Zakharova: Russia expects to overcome differences with the United States after the meeting in Istanbul

Moscow expects that today's expert consultations with the United States in Istanbul will strengthen trust between Moscow and Washington and bring the parties closer to overcoming differences. This was stated at a briefing by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.

At the moment, negotiations between the delegations of Russia and the United States in Turkey have been going on for the sixth hour. According to TASS, at the end of the fifth hour on the territory of the residence of the Consul General of the United States in For the first time during the negotiations, an American car with diplomatic license plates drove into Istanbul. The meeting is held in a completely closed mode.

"We hope that today's meeting will be the first in a series of such expert consultations that will bring us and the American side closer to overcoming the differences that have arisen, strengthening confidence—building measures, and so on," the diplomat said.

According to Zakharova, the parties will try to find ways to resolve many irritants that persist in the bilateral dialogue due to the actions of the previous US administration, including the issue of resuming the activities of embassies. She said that the meeting is taking place in the development of a series of bilateral contacts at the highest and highest level.

"These problematic issues have accumulated as a result of the illegal activities of several previous teams in the White House. But all of them were united both by personnel and by one destructive Russophobic thought. They purposefully created obstacles to the functioning of the Russian Embassy in Washington, thereby damaging the very structure of diplomatic relations between the two countries," Zakharova said.

She recalled that Russia was forced to take mirror measures.

"The realization that this cannot continue indefinitely has now finally become obvious to the new team in the White House. We have always said that the deterioration and destruction of bilateral relations is not our choice. But, of course, we have always responded," the diplomat said.

The diplomat said that the Foreign Ministry will comment on the results of the meeting as information becomes available.

"But the experts have a huge amount of work, so we wish them good luck," she concluded, quoted by TASS.