The Russian-U.S. consultations on ‘irritant matters’ in Istanbul were business-like but no progress was made on the key topics, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Tuesday.
"We assess them as useful, but difficult. The conversation was business-like, but the progress was minimal and, by and large, on secondary issues. As for the key topics related to the operation of overseas missions, visa problems, personnel rotation, there was no progress," he said.
Ryabkov said earlier that a Russian-U.S. meeting at the level of directors of corresponding departments was being held in Istanbul to discuss key "irritants" in bilateral relations. He noted, however, that these talks should not be seen as a political signal for the resumption of dialogue on more important matters.
