Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that delegations from Russia and the US will meet in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss restoring the functioning of their embassies.

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

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says diplomats from Russia and the United States will meet in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss the operation of their respective embassies in Moscow and

US and Russian diplomats will meet in Istanbul on Thursday to discuss re-establishing their diplomatic missions, as the Trump administration departs from decades of American policy towards Russia and warms to Moscow.

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.

US and Russian diplomats meet in Istanbul to discuss embassy operations, with Ukraine off the agenda. This is a second round following talks in Saudi Arabia that signalled a shift in US policy under Trump.