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Meeting in Saudi Arabia/ VOA: US and Russia agree to strengthen diplomatic missions

Politiko 2025-02-18 20:32:34

Meeting in Saudi Arabia/ VOA: US and Russia agree to strengthen diplomatic

The United States and Russia agreed on Tuesday to restore normal diplomatic relations between the two countries, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after talks between senior US and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia.

The decision appeared to be a significant signal in easing restrictions on Russian diplomatic missions, restrictions that had been imposed by previous administrations due to Moscow's large-scale attack on Ukraine as well as other Russian actions.

The talks in Riyadh were aimed at taking a step toward ending the war in Ukraine after President Donald Trump, who took office last month, ordered top officials to begin talks. Mr. Rubio said the sides had agreed as a first step to appoint teams of officials who would “work quickly to restore the functioning of our diplomatic missions.”

Over the past decade, the two countries have expelled diplomats and limited the sending of new personnel to each other's diplomatic missions, in a series of decisions in retaliation for each other, leaving embassies understaffed.

Mr. Rubio said that such decisions have "greatly reduced our ability to operate in Moscow" and that this also applied to Russia's diplomatic mission in Washington.

During an interview with the Associated Press news agency, Mr. Rubio said that it is necessary for diplomatic missions to be able to function normally, but said that he would not publicly comment on the details of how this would happen.

The US State Department did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters on details of how the US embassy in Russia currently operates.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Minister Lavrov raised concerns about the functioning of Russian diplomatic missions in the United States during a conversation with his counterpart Rubio on Saturday, before today's talks in Riyadh.

Even before the full-scale attack on Ukraine in 2022, the United States had said it could only maintain a low-level presence in Russia after Moscow imposed restrictions on personnel at American missions, forcing Washington to close and suspend consulates in Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg./ VOA

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