Russia's Ryabkov, US' Shannon to Discuss Russian Diplomatic Property Next Week

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov will meet with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon next week to discuss the issue of Russian diplomatic property in the United States, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — In December 2016, the administration of former US President Barack Obama imposed a set of punitive measures against Russia, including the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats and the closure of the two Russian diplomatic compounds. The actions were taken in response to Moscow's alleged interference in the US presidential election, which Russia has repeatedly denied.

Back in December, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided not to respond to sanctions imposed by the outgoing US administration and act in accordance with the ties built with the new US leadership.

"The meeting between Ryabkov and Shannon is scheduled for next week, in particular, the issue of [Russian] diplomatic capacity will be discussed," the source said.

The Donald Trump administration is currently considering the return of the two facilities ahead of the US president's first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G50 summit in Germany this week.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said earlier that Washington pledged to prepare proposals in the near future aimed to settle the issue of Russian diplomatic property seized in the United States.