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Bank of Russia does not take part in negotiations on lifting sanctions against Russia

Elvira Nabiullina also noted that international payment systems Visa and Mastercard have not contacted the Bank of Russia regarding the issue of their return to the Russian market, adding that it is too early to discuss it

YEKATERINBURG, February 20. /TASS/. The Bank of Russia is not participating in negotiations on the possible lifting of some Western sanctions, Governor of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina said on the sidelines of the Cybersecurity in Finance forum.

"The Bank of Russia does not participate in such negotiations, I do not know anything about it," Nabiullina said in response to a question on the issue.

Nabiullina also noted that international payment systems Visa and Mastercard have not contacted the Bank of Russia regarding the issue of their return to the Russian market, adding that it is too early to discuss it. "No, they have not. I think it is too early to speak about it," she said when asked a respective question.

Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Market Anatoly Aksakov told TASS earlier that Visa and Mastercard might return to the Russian market soon. Visa and Mastercard left the Russian market in March 2022.

On February 18, the Russian and American delegations held talks in Riyadh that lasted about 4.5 hours. Russia was represented at the meeting by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, and Head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev. The United States was represented at the talks in Saudi Arabia by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and the American leader's special envoy Steve Witkoff.

According to Ushakov, the delegations had a serious conversation on all the issues they wanted to address, including the discussion of the rapprochement of the positions of Russia and the United States and contacts on Ukraine. He clarified that it is not yet known who will be among the negotiators on the Ukrainian settlement, the decision will be up to the president. Lavrov called the conversation with Washington representatives very useful and said that Russia and the United States agreed to ensure the earliest possible appointment of ambassadors in both capitals. The State Department, in turn, noted that Lavrov and Rubio agreed at the meeting to create negotiating groups on Ukraine, as well as on future cooperation on issues of common geopolitical interest.

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