MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/. The Russian side is hoping that today’s expert consultations with the US in Istanbul will help build trust between Moscow and Washington, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

"We hope that today’s meeting will become the first in a series of such expert consultations which will bring us and the US side closer to bridging the chasm that has formed between us, strengthening confidence-building measures and so on," the diplomat said.

According to Zakharova, the sides will try to find solutions for the many irritants remaining in bilateral dialogue caused by the previous US administration, including the issue of resuming embassy operations. She specified that the meeting is part of a series of bilateral interactions at the high and highest levels.

"These problematic issues have accumulated as a result of illegitimate activity of several previous teams at the White House. They were united, however, both in personnel terms and their single destructive Russophobic attitude. They deliberately created obstacles for the operations of the Russian Embassy in Washington, thereby damaging the very structure of diplomatic relations between the two countries," the diplomat explained.

She reiterated that Russia was compelled to take reciprocal measures. "The realization that this cannot go on indefinitely finally became obvious for the new team in the White House as well. We have consistently said that the worsening, the destruction of bilateral relations was not our choice. But naturally, we have continued to take tit-for-tat measures," the spokeswoman explained.

Zakharova noted that the Russian Foreign Ministry will comment on the results of the meeting as details come in. "But the experts have a lot of work to do, so let’s wish them luck," she concluded.

The talks on the operations of the two countries’ embassies are taking place at the Istanbul residence of the US consul general. According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the negotiators are "high-level diplomats and experts." The meeting is held in a closed-door format and its planned duration was not announced. Journalists from various countries are standing by the residence awaiting the completion of the negotiations.