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Russia, US start new chapter in relations — ex-top Austrian diplomat after Riyadh talks

According to Karin Kneissl, having failed to bring Russia "on her knees" by the "sanctions from hell," the United States will have to lift its sanctions

MOSCOW, February 18. /TASS/. The results of the Russian-US talks in Saudi Arabia open up a new chapter in their bilateral relations, Karin Kneissl, Austria’s former foreign minister and the head of the GORKI Center at St. Petersburg State University, said.

"It was a good day today in Riyadh. The key take-aways enumerated below by TASS illustrate the new chapter which the US and Russia have just started: bringing back diplomatic staff, creating consultation mechanisms and much more to come," she wrote on her Telegram channel.

According to Kneissl, having failed to bring Russia "on her knees" by the "sanctions from hell," the United States will have to lift its sanctions. "As things stand now, I expect that soon there will be direct flights between Moscow and New York, but not from Russia to Berlin or Vienna. The EU commission already stated that the EU will keep its sanctions against Russia even if the US will lift those. And for sure the US will lift its sanction regime which never worked," she noted.

The former top Austrian diplomat expressed respect to all Russians who have managed to adapt to the new circumstances. "And ever since I have moved to Russia I see so many parallels between Russians and Americans. It often makes me smile. And there were smiling faces today in Riyadh," she added.

The Russian and US delegations held talks in Riyadh on February 18. The talks lasted for 4.5 hours. Russia was represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, and CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz, and special envoy for the Middle East Stephen Witkoff represented the US side. According to Ushakov, the delegations had a serious conversation on all matters they had planned to discuss. In particular, they discussed the rapprochement of Russia’s and US positions and contacts on Ukraine.

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