Russia is working on resuming direct air service with the US, but there has been no response from the American side yet. This was reported to journalists by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, according to TASS.

“For our part, we are currently focused on the bilateral track with the US, among other things, on the task of resuming direct air links. Unfortunately, there has been no response from the American side yet. We are making additional efforts, and our relevant departments and agencies are involved in this,” the deputy minister said.

“We hope that by the time the format that has been referred to in recent months as bilateral consultations on irritants is resumed, a more constructive attitude will have formed in Washington and we will make real progress in resolving this issue,” Ryabkov added.

Earlier, he noted that Moscow and Washington would try to hold another meeting on irritants in relations before the end of autumn. 

On February 27 and April 10, talks were held in Istanbul on normalizing the working conditions of the Russian and US embassies and discussing ways to overcome irritants in relations between the two countries. The Russian delegation at the first and second rounds of consultations was led by the current ambassador to Washington, Alexander Darchiev, and the American delegation was led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Sonata Coulter. The first meeting, closed to the press, lasted more than six hours, while the second round of talks lasted five and a half hours.