MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/. A date for a new contact between Moscow and Washington on removing "irritants" in bilateral relations is being agreed upon, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"On our part, as was agreed during Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on July 23, we are ready to continue to work with the American partners to move toward substantive discussions on the issues that are of priority for us, the resolution of which should serve as a basis for a successful and comprehensive normalization of bilateral relations," she said in an interview with the Izvestia daily.
"As for the logistics of meetings on ‘irritants,’ based on a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ with the Americans, we do not announce them, as we believe it is important to conduct dialogue in this format in the regime of silence. We can only say that the date for the next meeting is currently being agreed upon," she added.
Zakharova recalled that the sides have been regularly holding bilateral meetings on resolving numerous problems in their relations since the launch, at the instruction of the Russian and US presidents, of a dialogue on removing ‘irritants’ between the Russian Foreign Ministry and the US Department of State in February 2025.
"We consistently and firmly emphasize the need to shift focus from important but technical aspects of diplomatic missions’ work to breakthrough objectives, such as the return of the seized Russian diplomatic property and the resumption of direct air service," she noted.
However, according to Zakharova, despite the progress in restoring the full-scale operations of diplomatic missions, it has not yet been possible to fully resume the work of the Russian embassy and consulates general due to the protracted nature of the negotiation process and differences in approaches. "And we need to work on rebuilding the trust that has been lost," she emphasized.