“Discussing our further contacts with Biden”

MOSCOW (gazeta.ru): On Wednesday, October 13, US Deputy Head of State Victoria Nuland held talks in Moscow with representatives of the Russian government – Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov and Deputy Chief of Staff Dmitry Kozak. The parties assess these meetings as constructive. At the same time, Nuland continues to discuss with Russian colleagues further meetings of the presidents of Russia and the United States.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about what the US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland discusses during her visit to Moscow.

“She and her Russian counterparts are discussing our further contacts with [US President Joe] Biden. <…> So we now have quite constructive relations with the current [US] administration, ”Putin said. He added that with the current head of the White House, “a working and quite stable relationship” has developed for him.

At the same time, Putin assured that the Russian authorities would work with any American leader elected by the citizens of that country.

Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov previously noted that such contacts between Russia and the United States, such as the arrival of Nuland, are timely and necessary.

“The Foreign Ministry should comment on the effectiveness of these negotiations  . It is the Foreign Ministry that is the receiving party, but nevertheless, of course, we are convinced that such contacts are timely and necessary. It is important to speak, ”the Kremlin spokesman emphasized.

At the same time, he admitted that it would not be possible to achieve breakthrough decisions in a short time. “There is no need to complain that some breakthrough agreements are not immediately obtained, this is hardly possible. The archives of our bilateral relations are too large, they cannot be raked right away, but, of course, such contacts are needed, ”he said.

According to Peskov, these contacts are a continuation of the June summit between Russia and the United States. He stressed that now “everything is developing quite well” if compared with the period before the June meeting of the leaders of the two countries. “[Then] there were no contacts at all, this is a positive development in our bilateral relations,” he added.

The United States also believes that the current negotiations are productive. According to White House spokesman Jen Psaki, the US administration views Nuland’s meetings as “constructive and productive.”

On Wednesday, October 13, the deputy head of the State Department met with the assistant to the Russian leader for international affairs, Yuri Ushakov, and with the deputy head of Putin’s administration, Dmitry Kozak .

Victoria Nuland herself praised the “frank, productive” review of US-Russian relations.

“I appreciate the frank, productive review of US-Russian relations with the Russian presidential aide for international affairs, Yuri Ushakov, in the Kremlin this morning. We remain committed to a stable and predictable relationship, ”said Victoria Nuland. Her words were published on his Twitter page by the press secretary of the American embassy in Moscow, Jason Rebholz.

As for the negotiations with Kozak, the deputy head of the Russian presidential administration himself said that the parties reaffirmed the position that was voiced back in mid-June: “. He added that given this position, further negotiations will continue.

The official noted that he had “a detailed and constructive dialogue regarding the settlement of the conflict in the south-east of Ukraine.” “They confirmed that the Minsk agreements remain the only basis for a settlement,” he stressed.

On Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry held talks between Nuland and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, which lasted more than an hour and a half. After the meeting, Ryabkov noted that the dialogue was “extremely frank” and useful. In particular, the parties touched upon “issues of a bilateral nature.” But their discussion did not lead to much progress in the issue of issuing visas, restoring the number of personnel in the embassies, as well as the work of foreign missions in the two countries.