On February 15, at the initiative of the American Side, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Building on the February 12 telephone conversation between the Presidents of Russia and the United States, the two Foreign Ministers agreed to maintain an open channel of communication to address longstanding issues in Russian-American relations.

Their goal is to remove unilateral barriers inherited from the previous US administration that have hindered mutually beneficial trade, economic and investment cooperation.

Both Sides expressed a shared commitment to engaging on key international issues, including the Ukraine settlement, developments in Palestine and the broader Middle East, as well as other regional matters.

The conversation also covered ways to swiftly reverse the restrictions on Russian diplomatic missions in the United States, which were introduced by the Obama administration in 2016 and led to reciprocal measures.

It was agreed that expert-level meetings will be organised in the near future to coordinate specific steps towards removing these obstacles to the functioning of diplomatic missions in Russia and the United States.

Sergey Lavrov and Marco Rubio reaffirmed their readiness to restore a respectful and constructive interstate dialogue in line with the approach set by the presidents.

They agreed to maintain regular contact, including discussions on preparations for a potential high-level Russian-American summit.