Kinshasa, June 11th, 2025 (CPA).- The Russian government on Wednesday deemed quick results ‘unlikely’ in the recently initiated Russian-American discussions on normalising relations between Moscow and Washington, according to international media reports. ‘There are many obstacles in bilateral relations, and it is unlikely that we can expect quick results. This difficult work will continue,’ has declared Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
The American President, who has said he stands ‘in the middle’ between Russia and Ukraine, has since echoed the Kremlin’s rhetoric on several points, while touting the possibility of economic cooperation between the United States and Russia. According to the same sources, Russian and American diplomats held bilateral consultations with a view to normalisation in February and April in Istanbul, following a meeting on February 18th in Riyadh, the first since February 2022. The Russian ambassador to the United States, Alexander Dartchiev, has announced the day before that a new round of consultations was expected to take place soon in Moscow.
However, Dmitry Peskov stressed that these were discussions between the foreign ministries, welcoming a dialogue that will continue, but without specifying the date of the next meeting or the composition of the delegations. The momentum of discussions between Russia and the United States in the first few weeks seems to have changed, however, and the prospect of reaching a quick agreement on resolving the conflict in Ukraine, as desired by Donald Trump, appears to have faded.
Beyond Ukraine, Russia and the United States want to discuss more global issues such as their economic relations, the security architecture in Europe and global arms control. Since the first official call between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump on February 12th, the Russians and Americans have said they want a reset of their bilateral relations, a sudden turnaround after years of extreme tensions against the backdrop of the conflict in Ukraine.