Russia and the U.S. both see draft accords discussed by Moscow and Kyiv in the early weeks of the war as a possible basis for a Ukraine peace deal, the Kremlin said on Friday, though Ukraine's president has previously rejected them as unacceptable.

Turkish Airlines and Emirates are among the carriers that have continued operating flights to Russia since the Ukraine invasion three years ago.

Russia hopes the meeting with U.S. officials in Istanbul will "strengthen the trust" between the two countries, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Feb. 27. "We expect that today's meeting will be first in the series of similar expert consultations that will move us closer,

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on Wednesday that a meeting between Russian and US representatives to discuss embassy operations will take place on Thursday in Istanbul.

Rapprochement between the U.S. and Russia – following a diplomat-level meeting in Istanbul last week – gathered pace Thursday with the appointment of

Russian negotiators have asked their American counterparts to consider reopening US airspace to Russian aircraft and restoring direct flights between the two countries, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.

Amid the recent talks between US President Trump and Putin on ending war on Ukraine, now Russia has proposed to resume direct flights, "restoring direct air traffic" between the two countries, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday.

Moscow expects that today's expert consultations with the United States in Istanbul will strengthen trust between Moscow and Washington and bring the parties closer to overcoming differences. This was stated at a briefing by the official representative of the Russian Foreign

Russian and US teams held six hours of talks in Turkey on Feb 27 to try to restore the normal functioning of their embassies, and President Vladimir Putin said initial contacts with Mr Donald Trump's new administration had inspired hope.

Diplomats from Russia and the United States will meet in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss the operation of their respective embassies in Moscow and Washington, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday.

U.S. and Russian delegations will meet in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss reestablishing diplomatic ties further through embassy operations,

Putin hailed the Trump administration's "pragmatism and realistic view” compared with what he described as the “stereotypes and messianic ideological cliches” of its predecessors.