MOSCOW, March 4. /TASS/. The rapid and efficient work by the Russian Foreign Ministry and the US Department of State to reconnect ties is impressive, the head of the "G.O.R.K.I." center of the St. Petersburg State University and former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl said in a commentary with TASS.

"I am impressed by how quickly and effectively the entire administrative machine [of the Russian Federation and the United States] is working now," she said.

Kneissl noted that she gives her opinion "as a person who worked in government both in lower positions and at the top of the hierarchy."

"If, for example, I, as a minister, had said on February 18: 'Now we are doing this and that,' for example, restarting relations with Turkey, the process would never have gone as fast in the small Austrian Foreign Ministry as it has now between two really powerful state administrations," she said.

The former minister noted that bureaucracy can be very slow.

"I take my hat off to both the Russian and American bureaucracies," she concluded.

In recent weeks, contacts between Moscow and Washington have intensified.

On February 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin and American leader Donald Trump spoke on the phone. They discussed ways of ending hostilities in Ukraine, bilateral relations and a number of other topics. They also agreed to continue contacts and arrange a personal meeting.

On February 18, high-ranking delegations from Russia and the United States met in Riyadh. Following the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that the parties had reached an agreement on the earliest possible appointment of ambassadors from both countries, as well as on removing long-standing obstacles to the work of Russian diplomatic missions.

On February 27, a meeting was held in Istanbul at the level of representatives of foreign policy departments to tackle the problems of the work of embassies.