Russian and US diplomats will meet in Istanbul on Thursday for talks aimed at restoring their respective diplomatic missions, seen as a step towards ending the war in Ukraine, both sides said on Wednesday.

The talks come as the administration of President Donald Trump reversed his predecessor Joe Biden’s policy to isolate Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and instead focus on restoring ties with Moscow and ending the three-year war with Kyiv.

The rapprochement began after a call between President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump on February 12, followed by a high-level meeting between the two sides last week in Riyadh.

Delegations led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed in Saudi Arabia to open discussions on diplomatic missions.

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The warming of ties between Washington and Moscow has alarmed European allies.

The US State Department said Thursday’s talks, which will be led by working-level officials, will not include any discussions on Ukraine but will still be seen as a test of Moscow’s desire to genuinely engage.

“To be clear, there are no political or security issues on the agenda. Ukraine is not  on the agenda,” a State Department spokesperson said.

“The constructiveness of these talks will become apparent very quickly; either issues will get resolved or they won’t. We will know soon if Russia is really willing to engage in good faith,” the spokesperson added.

Earlier, Lavrov said the talks would focus on creating better conditions for Russian diplomats in the United States and their US counterparts in Russia, after a series of rows over staffing levels and embassy properties. The outcome “will show how quickly and effectively we can move,” Lavrov said.

Trump has said he wants to move quickly towards a ceasefire in Ukraine, but Putin this week tempered expectations of rapid progress, saying nothing could be achieved without restoring trust between Russia and the United States.

‘Systemic problems’

The US delegation will be led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Sonata Coulter; and the Russian delegation by Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director of the North Atlantic Department, Aleksandr Darchiyev.

The two countries have expelled diplomats and limited the appointment of new staff at each other’s missions in a series of tit-for-tat measures over the past decade, leaving their respective embassies thinly staffed.

“Our high-level diplomats, experts, will meet and consider the systemic problems that have accumulated as a result of the illegal activities of the previous (US) administration to create artificial obstacles for the activities of the Russian embassy, to which we, naturally, reciprocated and also created uncomfortable conditions for the work of the American embassy in Moscow,” Lavrov said.