Updated: New round of US-Russia embassy talks set for April 10 in Istanbul
Editor's note: The article was expanded with comments by U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce for the media.
A new round of talks between the U.S. and Russia will take place in Istanbul on April 10, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on April 8.
The negotiations will involve representatives from the two countries' foreign ministries. Peskov did not elaborate on the topics the Russian and American delegations would discuss.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told journalists that Ukraine is "absolutely not on the agenda."
"These talks are solely focused on our embassy operations, not on normalizing a bilateral relationship overall, which can only happen, as we've noted, once there is peace between Russia and Ukraine," Bruce said at a press briefing on April 8.
The news comes following U.S. President Donald Trump's renewed push for a ceasefire, which has regardless seen Russia repeatedly striking Ukrainian cities in drone and missile attacks.
Russian and U.S. officials previously held a meeting on embassy operations in Istanbul on Feb. 27 and two rounds of talks on peace in Ukraine in Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this month, Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev arrived in Washington to hold talks with U.S. officials on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin and met with Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, at the White House.
President Volodymyr Zelensky on April 3 also acknowledged that U.S. and Russian officials were holding private conversations on the possibility of a full ceasefire in Ukraine.
Kyiv has said for weeks that it is ready to begin a complete 30-day ceasefire, in line with a proposal from Washington, as long as Russia accepts the same terms. Russia has so far refused, only agreeing to partial ceasefires on energy infrastructure and in the Black Sea — in exchange for restored access to international markets.
Francis Farrell
