Reuters reported that on April 10, the US and Russia both confirmed that they had made some progress in normalizing the operations of diplomatic missions. However, Washington has expressed concern about Russia's policy of not allowing the recruitment of local staff.
The US side said that the meeting in Istanbul ( Turkey) continued the "constructive atmosphere" established since the negotiations on February 27, but noted that Russia's maintaining a tough stance on the ban on local labor is one of the main obstacles, making it difficult to maintain a stable payroll at the US Embassy in Moscow.
On the Russian side, Russian Ambassador to the US - Mr. Alexander Darchiev - affirmed that the new round of talks has helped the two sides make certain progress in regulating diplomatic activities.
He also said that both countries emphasized the importance of resuming direct flights between the US and Russia to promote trade and connectivity. However, Mr. Darchiev did not mention the reason why Russia still did not agree to use local labor.
In a notice posted on Telegram after the meeting, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the top priority at present is timely handling of the raised proposals, while emphasizing the principle of building together appropriate solutions for the next round of negotiations, the specific time will be agreed upon later.
The talks were led by the new Russian Ambassador to Washington, Alexander Darchiev, and US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Sonata Coulter, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Previously, on April 8, US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said that the issue of Ukraine was completely not on the agenda, while emphasizing that the negotiations only revolved around the activities of embassies.
