Russia might get diplomatic estates back
WASHINGTON - The United States and Russia are holding high-level negotiations that could lead to the return of two Russian diplomatic compounds seized as punishment for Moscow’s alleged interference in the U.S. presidential election, officials said Thursday. The talks are intensifying even as electionrelated investigations in Washington show no sign of ending.
Washington and Moscow are preparing for a second-round of talks on removing “irritants” in their relationship and both sides are pushing aggressively for their priorities. For Russia, these include returning the New York and Maryland compounds seized by the Obama administration, according to Russian officials. The U.S. wants Russia to stop harassing American diplomats and civilians in the country, and to resolve a dispute related to the U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, American officials said.
The officials weren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The demands were outlined in detail at a first round of talks between Thomas Shannon, the U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, and Sergey Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, in New York last month. The diplomatic channel, created by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, aims to solve some of the smaller issues holding up a broader improvement in U.S.-Russian cooperation on such matters as ending Syria’s civil war.
The process is still in an early stage, U.S. officials said. The next gettogether will take place later this month in St. Petersburg and isn’t expected to result in a deal, despite Russian complaints about delays and warnings of consequences if an agreement on the compounds isn’t reached quickly.
“They’re projecting that the negotiations are further along than they are,” said R.C. Hammond, a senior Tillerson adviser.
Hammond was referencing several aggressive statements and tweets from Russian diplomats about the compounds they were evicted from in December, and a report suggesting the U.S. had dropped a demand that permission for a new St. Petersburg consulate be part of any agreement. The Russian compounds are located in Oyster Bay, N.Y., on Long Island, and along the Corsica River in the Eastern Shore region of Maryland.
The Obama administration had claimed the estates were being used for intelligence activities. The U.S. closed the sites at the same time it ordered 35 Russian officials to leave the country in retaliation for Moscow’s alleged cybermeddling in the election.