The spokesman, who responded to a question from the Sputnik news agency on the matter, stressed that before any dialogue on the subject, ties and the work of the diplomatic missions of both countries have to be recomposed.

During bilateral consultations held in Istanbul on February 27th, Russia and the United States discussed joint measures to normalize the work of their diplomatic missions, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Based on the same source’s information, the delegations also discussed the return of Russian diplomatic properties illegally seized by the US authorities between 2016 and 2018.

The Istanbul consultations took place almost 10 days after the first high-level meeting that Moscow and Washington held in the Saudi Arabian capital, where they discussed the normalization of bilateral relations, the arrangement of a first summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Donald Trump, and the facilitation of possible negotiations to resolve the Ukrainian conflict.

On February 12th, Putin and Trump held a telephone conversation in which they discussed the issues of Ukraine, the Middle East, the exchange of prisoners, the Iranian nuclear program and the state of relations between the two countries.

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