Russia and the US seek to mend diplomatic relations through the Trump-Putin rapprochement

Russia and the US to Work on Restoring Diplomatic Ties Amid Surprise Trump-Putin Rapprochement

Russia and the United States will seek to repair diplomatic relations during upcoming talks, which will also focus on resolving the conflict in Ukraine. This effort comes as part of an unexpected thaw in relations under President Donald Trump.

Recent Disputes Over Diplomacy, Staffing, and Property

No Russian Ambassador in Washington

Russia has been without an ambassador in Washington since October, when Anatoly Antonov vacated the post. While a senior Russian lawmaker stated in January that the US had approved a new envoy, the Foreign Ministry clarified on February 22 that no agreement had been reached yet.

Russia intends to appoint Alexander Darchiev, head of the Foreign Ministry’s North American department, as its new ambassador, according to a November report by Kommersant. Meanwhile, the US is represented in Moscow by Ambassador Lynne Tracy.

Ongoing Diplomatic Expulsions

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the US expelled 12 Russian diplomats at the United Nations, accusing them of espionage. In retaliation, Russia removed an unspecified number of US diplomats from its Moscow embassy in March 2022.

Since then, both nations have continued expelling each other’s diplomats, though the exact numbers remaining in each country are unclear.

Property Dispute

A longstanding dispute over diplomatic properties has persisted since 2017, when the US shut down Russia’s consulate in San Francisco and two diplomatic annexes in New York and Washington, D.C., citing allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. Moscow denied the claims and condemned the closures as violations of international law.

In 2018, President Trump ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle, citing its proximity to a US submarine base and aerospace giant Boeing. That same year, the US expelled 60 Russian diplomats over the poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in Britain, an attack Washington blamed on Moscow.

Russia has since urged the UN multiple times to pressure the US into returning its diplomatic properties.

During recent US-Russia talks in Riyadh on February 18, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov raised concerns over property disputes, along with restrictions on diplomatic financing, personnel, and movement. Lavrov emphasized the need to remove these “artificial obstacles” to facilitate smoother diplomatic relations.