MOSCOW, August 6. /TASS/. A reset in relations between Russia and the United States is likely to happen, Adalby Shkhagoshev, deputy head of the United Russia faction and member of the State Duma Committee on Security and Corruption Control, said at a press conference in Moscow on Wednesday.
"Of course, a reset [should be expected in relations between Russia and the United States], there should be no doubt about that. It's absolutely clear if you have been following or used to follow the way the relations were developing under [former US President Joe] Biden," the lawmaker said.
He stated that people shouldn't only pay attention to Trump railing against Russia, since the US president also talks about restoring relations with Russia.
According to Shkhagoshev, "one needs to read between the lines" in order to see the steps taken in the direction of restoring ties between Russia and the United States.
As an example, he cited a recent meeting between Russian Space Agency Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Bakanov and US Transportation Secretary and acting NASA head Sean Duffy. It was the first face-to-face meeting between the heads of the Russian and American space agencies in eight years.
In a further attempt to mend Russia-US relations, Russian President Vladimir Putin received on Wednesday US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff in the Kremlin. The meeting between President Putin and Steve Witkoff was also attended by Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and Special Presidential Envoy for Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries.
Witkoff arrived in Moscow at about 7:00 a.m. Moscow time (4:00 a.m. GMT), where he was met at Vnukovo Airport by Dmitriev. About an hour later, the two took a walk through Zaryadye Park in central Moscow.
This marks Witkoff’s fifth visit to Russia since the beginning of the year. His most recent trip to Moscow took place on April 25, following an earlier visit to St. Petersburg on April 11. On both occasions, he held meetings with President Putin.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump announced that he could impose new sanctions on Russia on August 9 unless an agreement was reached on resolving the Ukraine crisis. He added, however, that Russia seemed "to be pretty good at avoiding sanctions." When asked if there was anything Russia could do to escape sanctions, the US leader said that it would require "a deal where people stop getting killed."
On July 14, Trump announced a 50-day deadline for an agreement on resolving the Ukraine conflict, adding that if no deal was reached, he would impose 100% tariffs on Moscow and its trading partners.
On July 29, the US leader said he was reducing the deadline to 10 days. On August 5, Trump noted that the US would decide later whether to impose the restrictions. According to Trump, Washington’s further steps would depend on the outcome of his special envoy Steve Witkoff’s upcoming talks in Moscow.