Russia, US meet over diplomatic missions

Countries discuss embassy staffing in Turkiye, exchange prisoners in UAE

MOSCOW/WASHINGTON — Delegations of Russia and the United States on Thursday held a second round of bilateral talks in Turkiye on restoring embassy functioning as the two countries conducted a prisoner exchange facilitated by the United Arab Emirates.

US and Russian teams were meeting in Istanbul to discuss restoring embassy staffing levels after years of diplomat expulsions.

Both sides said on Thursday that they had made progress toward normalizing the work of their diplomatic missions.