US, Russia describe talks on diplomatic missions as constructive, positive

By Jonathan Spicer

ISTANBUL (Reuters) -The United States and Russia both said on Thursday that they had made progress toward normalising the work of their diplomatic missions, with the United States saying it was still concerned about a Russian policy prohibiting the employment of local staff.

The meeting of the U.S. and Russian delegations in Istanbul followed initial talks in February, after the war in Ukraine triggered the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the depths of the Cold War.

The talks were led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Russia and Central Europe Sonata Coulter and Russia's new ambassador to Washington, Alexander Darchiev.

The U.S. delegation spent some six hours at the Russian consulate building in central Istanbul for the talks, a Reuters witness said. A State Department spokesperson had said on Tuesday that Ukraine was not on the agenda.

The State Department said Thursday's talks continued "the constructive approach" established in the February 27 meeting.

"The United States reiterated its concerns about the Russian Federation's policy prohibiting the employment of local staff," the statement said.

It said this was the key impediment to maintaining stable and sustainable staffing levels at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

Russia's ambassador to the United States said that the talks had made it possible to make progress in normalising the two countries' diplomatic missions, Russian state news agency TASS reported.

"The latest round of bilateral expert consultations on normalising the work of the diplomatic missions of Russia and the United States took place in a positive atmosphere and allowed us to move forward in resolving this task set by the presidents of the two countries," TASS cited Darchiev as saying.

It cited him as saying that both sides had stressed the importance of resuming direct flights between Russia and the United States in expanding business ties and contacts.

Russia's Foreign Ministry in a statement posted on Telegram after the talks said the priority for Moscow was to "promptly work through the proposals that have been put forward."

"The main principle is to work out mutually agreeable solutions for the next round of consultations, with the time frame to be agreed," the ministry said.

FACILITATING DIPLOMATS' WORK

The focus on restoring the work of diplomatic missions comes after relations between the two nuclear powers were complicated by years of disputes, mutual claims of intimidation and the freezing of diplomatic property.

Both Moscow and Washington have complained in recent years about the difficulties of getting credentials for their diplomats, making the operation of their embassies extremely difficult.

Russia has said that even paying diplomats has become difficult due to Western restrictions, while U.S. diplomats say their movements are restricted in Russia. Both sides have complained of intimidation.

"The U.S. and Russian delegations exchanged notes to finalise an understanding to ensure the stability of diplomatic banking for Russian and U.S. bilateral missions," the State Department said.

It said the delegations also discussed holding a follow-up meeting on these issues in the near term.

Among the issues is diplomatic property.

Washington has put six Russian properties under restrictions, including the Killenworth estate on Long Island, the Pioneer Point "dacha" in Maryland, the Russian consulates in San Francisco and Seattle and the trade missions in Washington and New York.

(Reporting by Reuters; Additional reporting by Felix Light; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow and Daren Butler in Istanbul; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Daren Butler, Alison Williams, Ron Popeski and Mark Porter)