US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland praised the talks with the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Russian President Dmitry Kozak on Donbass and Ukraine, calling them constructive. Her statement leads to Twitter Press Secretary of the American Embassy in Moscow Jason Rebholz.
Nuland also noted that she met with the aide to the President of Russia Yuri Ushakov. She reaffirmed the US commitment to stability and predictability in relations with Moscow. At the end of the meetings, the Deputy Secretary of State noted that the negotiations were “very useful”, and the negotiations in the presidential administration were productive.
The US Deputy Secretary of State flew to Moscow on October 11. On October 12, she met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, diplomats discussed issues of strategic stability and prospects for continuing work in this area.
Nuland also reaffirmed Washington’s position in Geneva on the need to agree on a special status for Donbass for further settlement. This was stated by Dmitry Kozak, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Russia, who negotiated with her in Moscow.
Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Dmitry Kozak also commented on the meeting with Nuland. He noted that it was about Donbass, the parties agreed to continue mutual consultations on the topic of Ukraine and confirmed that the settlement of the conflict is possible only on the basis of the Minsk agreements. RIA News…
Kozak added that Nuland confirmed the US position voiced in Geneva that progress on the Donbass issue is possible only with the recognition of its special status, in this the positions of Moscow and Washington coincide, so the parties agreed to negotiate on this topic.
Earlier, White House press secretary Jen Psaki called the meetings of US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland with partners from the Russian Foreign Ministry constructive, but did not disclose details.
Official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova on the air of the Zvezda TV channel statedthat during the visit of the Deputy Secretary of State to Russia, the parties “inventoried” the problems in relations in order to move forward.
Zakharova expressed hope that the United States accepted Moscow’s position on the relevance of the Minsk agreements. She noted that two years ago, statements about the development of new agreements sounded unofficially, but now they have grown into the official position of Kiev.
Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov shared his impressions of a conversation with US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland. He stressed that the conversation with the US diplomat turned out to be “extremely frank”. In particular, the parties discussed the situation with consular work and visas, with the presence of Russian diplomatic personnel in the United States and American in Russia, which, according to him, is not improving. The diplomat noted that the positions of both sides do not fit well.