Kremlin Calls Resumption of Russia–U.S. Air Travel a Logical Step

Resumption of air traffic between Russia and the US would be a logical step towards reviving bilateral relations, Presidential Aide for International Affairs Yury Ushakov said talking to VGTRK journalist Pavel Zarubin.

"The topic [of direct air traffic] was raised during some contacts of [of the Russian President's Special Representative for Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill] Dmitriev, as I know," the Kremlin envoy noted, The Caspian Post reports, citing TASS.

"But the Americans still believe that it is necessary to achieve some progress on the topic of Ukraine, and only then talk about air traffic. Although, as it seems to me, this [resumption of the direct air traffic] would be a completely logical decision," Ushakov said.

On February 27, the Russian delegation at the talks with the United States in Istanbul proposed to restore direct air traffic between the countries. On April 10, the second round of Russian-US consultations was held in Istanbul. The parties stressed that the resumption of direct air traffic between Moscow and Washington would contribute to the expansion of business ties, contacts between societies and people, Russia’s Ambassador to Washington and head of the Russian delegation Alexander Darchiyev said after the consultations.