(MENAFN) Russia has observed a readiness from the administration of US President Donald Trump to continue diplomatic discussions, but reversing the deterioration in bilateral relations caused under Joe Biden’s leadership will require considerable time, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated.

Beyond ongoing talks concerning the resolution of the Ukraine conflict, Russia and the US conducted two rounds of senior-level meetings earlier this year in Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, focusing on restoring the effective functioning of embassies and other collaborative efforts.

A third scheduled round of negotiations did not occur, with Moscow reporting that the US had canceled it.

In an interview with a news agency on Saturday, Lavrov remarked that there are “many irritants in Russian-American relations, inherited from the previous US administration [of Joe Biden],” emphasizing that “it will take a long time to clear up the mess.”

With the inauguration of the Trump administration in January, Moscow “sensed willingness to resume dialogue. It is happening, but not as quickly as we would like,” the foreign minister noted.

Lavrov further highlighted that US-Russia talks should extend beyond the management of diplomatic missions and also tackle the return of “illegally” confiscated Russian diplomatic assets and the reinstatement of air routes between the two nations.

Over the past decade, Russia and the US drastically reduced each other’s diplomatic staff as relations worsened.

In late 2016, the outgoing administration of US President Barack Obama restricted Russian diplomats’ access to residences in New York and Maryland and later seized additional properties.

Following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, the Biden administration imposed sanctions on Moscow, including suspending flights and closing US airspace to Russian carriers.

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