Elena Teslova
27 February 2025•Update: 27 February 2025
MOSCOW
The Kremlin spokesman said on Thursday that Moscow does not expect any breakthroughs from the Russia-US talks taking place in Istanbul.
Speaking at a press briefing in Moscow, Dmitry Peskov noted that the US and Russia have accumulated too many issues in their relations to mend them swiftly.
"No one expects easy or quick solutions -- the problem is too complex and has been neglected for too long. However, if both countries maintain their political will and willingness to listen to each other, I believe we will be able to navigate this working process," he said.
He added that at Thursday's expert-level meeting in Istanbul, Russian and US diplomats are working to address the existing problems.
"There is no need to jump ahead. Information on the outcome of the negotiations will be provided in due course," Peskov said.
Asked about Russia's position on returning territories captured from Ukraine as part of a potential peace deal, Peskov responded: "The territories that have become subjects of the Russian Federation and are enshrined in our Constitution are an integral part of our country, of Russia. This is an indisputable and incontrovertible fact."
Comparing the current US president to his predecessor, Peskov said that, unlike Joe Biden, Donald Trump is more willing to listen to others.
"What we see is that President Trump speaks for himself and is open to listening to others. This is very important and fundamentally sets the previous administration apart from the current one in Washington," he said.
Peskov noted that if Russian-American ties were to be restored, there would be vast opportunities for cooperation between the two nations. However, he added that it is too early to discuss such prospects.
About the US plans to impose tariffs on goods from other countries, Peskov reiterated Russia’s opposition to trade wars, warning that they inevitably harm all economies.
He stressed that Russia has a relatively small trade turnover with the US, meaning that changes in US economic policy would not directly impact Moscow.
"Given the current circumstances, we are focusing on our friendly countries -- BRICS members and other nations that are interested in trading with us. There, we are already shaping trade modalities that best serve both our interests and those of our partners, aiming to avoid tariff wars," he said.
