The United States will not agree to resume direct air services with Russia until the conflict in Ukraine is resolved, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on the Rossiya 1 television channel.
“There has been no progress in this area so far. They say: let's first reach an agreement on Ukraine, and then return to this issue,“ he said.
The United States closed its airspace to Russian aircraft in March 2022, as did several other countries, including EU members. Western countries have banned the supply of aircraft and components, as well as technical support. Moscow considers the sanctions illegal.
During consultations on problematic aspects of US-Russian relations in February this year, Moscow proposed resuming direct air services. The talks also discussed removing obstacles to the work of diplomats from both sides, including the issue of diplomatic property, which was confiscated under sanctions during the Obama administration in 2016.
The US side reacted “differently” to this issue, Ryabkov noted: “While the issue is not resolved, we are considering it.“ In other words, they are avoiding an answer. “But we will work towards the same goal,” he declared.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said in November that the US believes the issue of diplomatic property is “related to the Ukrainian settlement” and therefore no progress has been made.
This week, Ryabkov announced a new meeting on the sticking points, noting that progress had been made on some topics but that key issues remained unresolved. He said the next round of consultations would take place in the spring; an exact date has not yet been set.