NEW YORK, March 2. /TASS/. The US administration is well aware that it will not be an easy task to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but it wants to try to clarify Russia’s position on settling the Ukrainian conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
"We all understand that Putin is not going to be an easy negotiator in this regard. We all get that, but we have to start the process to see if something is even possible," he said in an interview with ABC News.
He noted that Washington and Moscow had not talked to each other for three years and now Washington wants to find out Moscow’s position on a potential conflict settlement deal.
Dialogue between Russia and the United States resumed on February 12 when presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Donald Trump of the United States spoke over the phone for nearly 1.5 hours. On February 18, the Russian and US delegations held talks in Riyadh, which lasted for 4.5 hours. Russia was represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, and CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz, and special envoy for the Middle East Stephen Witkoff represented the US side.
Two technical contacts followed and on February 27, Russian and US diplomats met in Istanbul to discuss a normalization of the operation of the two countries’ diplomatic missions. The Russian side suggested that direct air service be resumed between the two countries. The American side handed over an official note with an agrement for the appointment of the director of the North Atlantic Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexander Nikitich Darchiev, as Russia’s new ambassador to the US. He is expected to leave for Washington in the ear future.