Moscow says expects progress on economic talks with US

Russia expects "progress" on economic talks with the United States in the coming months, a Russian official said Tuesday in Riyadh, as hopes rise in Moscow that Donald Trump could lift sanctions imposed over the Ukraine offensive.

"We have a series of proposals, which our colleagues are thinking about. And I think that there will, possibly, be progress in the not so distant future, in the next two-three months," Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and Moscow's economic negotiator for talks with Washington, told state TV.

US and Russian diplomats began a meeting Tuesday in Riyadh, with talks expected to focus on resetting their fractured relations and making a tentative start on trying to end the Ukraine war.

The delegations, led by their top diplomats, met at Diriyah Palace in the Saudi capital for the first discussions of this level and format since February 24, 2022.