Russian Foreign Minister signals potential to rebuild ties with US

Istanbul: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday said Russia and the United States have the potential to improve relations amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

“There is always potential,” the minister said while speaking at the 4th Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey when asked whether Moscow and Washington have the potential to take more active actions to establish relations.

Lavrov further said that US President Donald Trump is one of the few Western leaders who understands that the Ukrainian conflict can only be resolved by eliminating its root causes.

“The only way to solve the problem and achieve sustainable peace is to eliminate the root causes. President Trump has become the first and yet, I think, almost the only Western leader who has repeatedly said that drawing Ukraine into NATO was a mistake. And, this is one of the first reasons that we have pointed out so many times,” he said.

Emphasising that the US understands the need to resolve territorial issues in the context of the Ukrainian settlement, Lavorov said, “They recognise that territorial issues should be resolved in the context of establishing a long-term settlement”.

Russia and the US are discussing bilateral relations, starting with the normalisation of diplomatic missions. Moscow is also considering the possibility of joint projects with Washington, the Russian Foreign Minister said at the forum.

Lavrov criticised the policy of the previous US administration under Joe Biden which attempted to isolate Russia.

On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin met Steve Witkoff, a special envoy of US President Donald Trump, in Saint Petersburg for talks on the Ukraine conflict. The Kremlin said the meeting focused on “various aspects of the Ukrainian settlement”, without elaborating any further.

Earlier, the Russian consulate in Istanbul said that progress has been made on ensuring banking and financial services for Russian and US diplomatic missions during the second round of bilateral talks in Istanbul.

Delegations from the two countries “exchanged diplomatic notes to formalise agreed commitments. These commitments are designed to facilitate unimpeded banking and financial services for Russian and American diplomatic missions, in addition to ensuring the fulfillment of the Russian Federation’s contributions to the budgets of the UN and other international organisations”, the consulate said in a statement.

The two sides “agreed to develop a roadmap” regarding the return of six diplomatic real estate properties confiscated by US authorities and lawfully owned by Russia, the consulate said.

–IANS