Putin made the first move: Trojan horse?

This practically means that Putin made the first move after the second round of talks between Russian and American diplomats, which took place in Istanbul on February 27.

Now the move of the American president is awaited.

The main topic of those talks was the normalization of the work of the diplomatic missions - the Russian embassy in Washington and the American one in Moscow, which were practically closed due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The re-arrival of Donald Trump in the White House has led to a radical turn in American foreign policy, which is now moving in the direction of canceling all American aid to Ukraine.

After the first meeting of Russian and US high-ranking officials in Riyadh, it was agreed that the cooperation between Moscow and Washington would continue, and then the second round was scheduled.

Although it was believed that the topic would be the achievement of peace in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied those allegations, saying that Ukraine would not be negotiated until the work of the two embassies is fully normalized.

Who is Darchiev actually?

He is an experienced diplomat who graduated from Moscow State University (MGU) in 1983 and holds a doctorate in historical sciences.

He speaks English and French, and has been employed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1992.

From October 2014 to January 2021, he was the Russian ambassador to Canada, and from January 2021, the director of the Department for North America.

Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed the previous ambassador, Anatoly Antonov, on October 10, 2024. He has held that position since 2017.