Moscow hopes Putin-Trump meeting will give impetus to bilateral relations - Russian Deputy FM Ryabkov

MOSCOW. Aug 12 (Interfax) - The upcoming meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump will hopefully give impetus to the process of normalizing relations between the two countries, including the prospect of restoring direct flights, the Izvestia newspaper said on Tuesday citing Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

"We hope that the upcoming meeting at the top level will give impetus to the normalization of bilateral relations, allowing us to move forward with these issues as well [restoration of direct flights]. Though it is clear that the leaders' focus will be on entirely different matters," Ryabkov said.

At the same time, Ryabkov acknowledged that no progress has been made on returning Russian diplomatic property in the U.S.

"No, unfortunately, there is no headway in this issue," he said.

The Russian Consulate General in San Francisco, Russia's trade mission in Washington and its office in New York were closed in 2017 as a result of anti-Russian sanctions, Izvestia said. The Russian Consulate General in Seattle was closed in 2018. Furthermore, Russian diplomats lost access to the Killenworth estate on Long Island near New York and to the compound in the state of Maryland, 100 kilometers from Washington. Some of those properties were owned by Russia, the others were rented, the newspaper said.