KEY POINTS
- Russian and US diplomats will meet in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss diplomatic issues.
- Rubio and Lavrov met in Riyadh on 18 February to initiate Ukraine peace talks.
- Zelensky opposed any deal without Kyiv and European involvement.
DOHA, Qatar: Russian and US diplomats will meet in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss resolving issues related to their embassies, Russia’s foreign minister said, amid easing relations between the two countries.
President Donald Trump has updated US foreign policy since coming to office last month, reaching out to Russian leader Vladimir Putin and initiating high-level talks with Moscow for the first time in over three years.
The latest meeting will focus on resolving diplomatic issues after each country expelled the other’s embassy staff during former US president Joe Biden’s administration.
“Such a meeting will take place tomorrow in Istanbul. I think that its results will show how quickly and effectively we can move forward,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday on a visit to Qatar.
A Turkish foreign ministry source, quoted by AFP, confirmed that “A technical-level meeting will be held between Russian and American delegations in Istanbul tomorrow.”
“Turkey is ready to provide all kinds of support to peace efforts, including hosting talks,” the source added.
📹 The Russian delegation, comprising experts on Russia-US relations, arrives at the venue of the talks with the US delegation in Istanbul pic.twitter.com/15fLz5rk8J
— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) February 27, 2025
Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met on February 18 in the Saudi capital Riyadh, where they agreed to start talks on the Ukraine war.
Both sides have since moved closer while sidelining Ukraine.
Last Wednesday, Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator” and called for him to “move fast” to end the war.
NATO member Turkey has sought to play a role in negotiations to end hostilities in Ukraine, twice hosting direct negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv in March 2022.
Lavrov met in Doha with Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, the emir’s office said in a statement.
US-Russia talks on Ukraine war
Earlier on February 18, Top diplomats from the United States and Russia met in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, to discuss how to end the Ukraine war and reestablish tattered diplomatic ties between the two powers.
The talks marked the first high-level communication between Washington and Moscow since the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022, after which their bilateral ties have descended to a historic low.
Both sides have agreed to form a high-level team to negotiate a settlement to the war in Ukraine that triggered what analysts said was a new cold war that pitted Moscow against the US and its NATO allies in Europe.
ALSO READ: Russia Open to Economic Cooperation with US on Energy, Rare Earth Minerals: Putin
After the meeting, Rubio said that both Russia and the US will form high-level teams, delegated with the task of supporting Ukraine peace talks.
Rubio added that ending the war in Ukraine could open the US and Russia up to opportunities to partner up on areas of mutual interest, which “hopefully will be good for the world and also improve our relations in the long term”.
Both sides have said they would continue talks moving forward. Zelenskyy said that he would not accept any deal imposed on his country.
The talks came a week after US President Donald Trump spoke to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Trump said he was “much more confident” in the Ukraine peace deal after the talks in Riyadh.
