MOSCOW, February 13. /TASS/. A Russia-US working group is considering prospects for trade and economic cooperation, and the Kremlin hopes these discussions will continue, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a briefing.
"A group on economic issues is working. On our side, it is headed by my colleague [RDIF head Kirill] Dmitriev. Indeed, issues of trade and economic cooperation - both potential and proposed - are on the agenda, and they are being discussed," he said answering a question about whether the US had responded to the proposal to expand economic cooperation.
"We hope these discussions will continue. At the moment, the de facto situation is such that, in practice, until, let's say, a Ukrainian settlement is reached, it is hardly possible to talk about anything concrete, and for now this is limited to discussions," he said.
"But as we move forward, and if we do make progress toward a peaceful settlement, then this could move into practical applications," Peskov concluded.
At the end of December last year, it was announced that work on a settlement around Ukraine would continue within the framework of two specially created groups: one on security and one on economic issues. In January, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov announced that the bilateral Russian-American working group on economic issues would be headed by Russian Presidential Special Representative Kirill Dmitriev and US Presidential Special Envoy Steven Witkoff.