Moscow prepares for a second meeting with U.S. in Istanbul

Preparations for the second meeting in Istanbul on the normalisation of bilateral ties between Russia and the United States are underway, said Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

During a press briefing in Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov did not provide a specific date for the meeting. However, he referred to President Vladimir Putin, who had requested a briefing from him and Defense Minister Andrey Belousov on Tuesday regarding the progress of talks with the US on the Ukraine issue.

Lavrov emphasized that Russia and the US are currently focused on three key issues: seeking a resolution to the conflict in Ukraine - addressing a moratorium on strikes targeting energy infrastructure plus restoring the Black Sea Grain Initiative, and removing "irritants" in bilateral ties.

According to Russia's top diplomat, these "irritants" are severely hindering the operations of the Russian embassy in Washington and the U.S. embassy in Moscow.

He stated, "A meeting was held in Istanbul, and preparations are underway for a second one. In the meantime, communication continues through phone calls and video conferences."

Lavrov emphasized that the "embassy issues" have been ongoing since the Barack Obama administration (2009-2017), just prior to the start of the Trump administration's first term.

Citing Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Russian FM stated that Ukraine violated the moratorium on strikes targeting energy facilities agreed upon at the suggestion of President Trump on March 18 during the telephone call between the President of Russia and the President of the United States.

"The moratorium is not being observed. All this time, the energy facilities of the Russian Federation have been coming under attacks with occasional short breaks of one to two days between them.  Defence Minister Belousov listed the facilities targeted by Ukrainian drones over the period under review, including last night," - Lavrov said and added that the Russian army is observing the moratorium.

Russia has sent the list of violations to United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and to its representatives at the UN and the OSCE "so that they can present concrete evidence about what the word of the current Ukrainian authorities is worth, if you can call them authorities at all."

In addition, President Putin was updated on talks with the United States regarding "revivification, resumption, and resuscitation of the grain Black Sea Initiative" that was on the agenda of Riyadh meeting on 24th March. 

"We highly appreciated - President Putin supported this assessment - the United States’ willingness to  assist in removing the obstacles created by the illegal unilateral sanctions imposed on Russian grain and fertilizer exports. These sanctions have contributed to tensions in global markets and caused difficulties for developing countries, which have faced limited access to food and fertilizer," - Lavrov stated and added that Moscow put forward specific proposals on how this could be done in practice.

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