Russia offers US to lift sanctions on diplomatic missions

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has offered the U.S. to roll back several rounds of sanctions that have hampered the activities of their diplomatic missions, but reaffirmed its strong opposition to any U.S. military presence in Central Asia. The Russian proposal was made during Tuesday’s talks between Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. In a statement after the talks, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that it called for rolling back a slew of sanctions and restrictions on diplomatic missions. Ryabkov said he also reaffirmed Moscow’s strong opposition to any U.S. presence in the former Soviet Central Asian nations. The U.S. Embassy tweeted Nuland’s description of her meetings as “constructive” but didn’t give any details.