Russia: Frank but no progress

Original title: Russia: Frank but no progress
Russian Vice Foreign Minister Ryabkov met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of state for political affairs Newland in the Russian capital Moscow on the 12th. After the meeting, riabkov said that the dialogue between the two sides was frank, but no progress was made.
Newland arrived in Moscow on the 11th for a three-day visit. She held a closed door meeting with Ryabkov at the Russian Foreign Ministry on the 12th, which lasted nearly two hours. Newland only told the media after the meeting that she was glad to come to Russia again to discuss bilateral relations.
Riabkov told the Russian satellite news agency after the meeting: "there has been no breakthrough or even progress. If we do not make more major efforts to normalize bilateral relations, (Russian US Relations) may deteriorate further."
"But nevertheless, the dialogue is meaningful. At least, we agreed to increase such discussions and hold special consultations. In addition to the work of visas and diplomatic missions, we will also have more consultations on some aspects of bilateral relations," riabkov said
He said that the meeting focused on bilateral relations, including the work of their diplomatic missions in each other's countries, and did not talk about the Ukrainian issue.
Newland will also meet with Dmitry Kozak, deputy director of the general office of the Russian President, and Yuri Ushakov, assistant to the Russian President for foreign policy.
Last week, four U.S. senators said in a letter to President Biden that Russian diplomats in the United States are far more than U.S. diplomats in Russia. Therefore, Russia must issue additional visas to basically equal the number of diplomats from both sides in the other country. Otherwise, the U.S. government should expel about 300 Russian diplomats to achieve parity.
Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian President, responded: "to expel so many diplomats, we must first have so many people. This demand is quite emotional. It seems that they (US senators) don't even know how many Russian diplomats work in the United States."
Wu Baoshu (Xinhua News Agency)