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Russia and the United States will hold their third round of diplomatic talks in Moscow "in the very near future," Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Alexander Darchiev announced Tuesday, as both nations work to ease bilateral tensions amid ongoing challenges.
Speaking to the Russian state news agency TASS, Darchiev confirmed that the negotiations, previously held in Istanbul, will shift to the Russian capital, marking what he called a "preliminary decision" reached during the last round of consultations on April 10.
The talks will continue to focus on alleviating "irritants" in bilateral diplomatic relations, according to Darchiev, who led the Russian delegation in the previous Istanbul meetings alongside U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Sonata Coulter.
"The recovery of Russian-American relations is still distant," Darchiev told TASS, citing opposition from what he described as the U.S. "deep state" and "hawks" in Congress, where he said "a persistent anti-Russian lobby exists."
The first two rounds of consultations, held in Istanbul on Feb. 27 and April 10, produced some tangible results. Following the initial meeting, Washington approved Darchiev's nomination as Russia's ambassador to the United States.
After the second round, both sides exchanged notes containing assurances of guaranteed banking services for diplomatic missions and agreed on measures to ease visa issuance and mobility for diplomats.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told journalists that Moscow will seek "more intelligible answers" from Washington regarding proposals to resume air traffic between the two countries and the return of Russian diplomatic property in the United States.
Darchiev emphasized that the recovery of Russian diplomatic property confiscated in the U.S. remains a priority for Moscow in the upcoming negotiations.
Turkish officials told Russian media outlet RIA Novosti that they have no specific information about the timing or location of the planned third round of talks, with a presidential administration source stating, "We have no specific information on the date and place of the negotiations you are talking about."
The negotiations come as U.S.-Russia relations remain severely strained. Reuters reported in 2024 that senior diplomats in both Moscow and Washington said they could not recall relations ever being worse, with the Ukraine conflict triggering the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cold War.
The Trump administration has characterized the Ukraine conflict as a proxy war between the United States and Russia, with President Donald Trump repeatedly warning of the risk of escalation into a world war.
Despite what Darchiev called "forward momentum" in the diplomatic process, he cautioned that any progress remains "entirely reversible" given the current political climate in both countries.
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