Peskov noted that the upcoming talks will follow a format set by the countries’ foreign ministries. The Russian state propaganda agency TASS said Russia will be represented by its ambassador to the United States, Alexander Darchiyev, while the U.S. delegation will be led by Sonata Coulter, deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry stated the discussions with the United States would focus on normalizing the operations of the two nations’ embassies.
Kirill Dmitriev, Russia’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, arrived in Washington on April 3 for talks with U.S. Special Representative for Eurasian Affairs Steve Witkoff.
To date, Washington convinced Ukraine to commit to an unconditional ceasefire, but months-long efforts to placate Russian dictator Vladimir Putin have failed to compel Moscow to follow suit. Even after agreeing to a pause in strikes on energy infrastructure, Russia continued to bomb Ukrainian power plants and natural gas facilities.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia is attempting to distort the agreements with the United States, attaching unreasonable conditions to its tepid steps towards enacting a partial ceasefire in the war against Ukraine.