OREANDA-NEWS. The US ambassador to Moscow, John Huntsman, hopes that he will be able to arrange a meeting between the State Department’s special representative for Ukraine, Kurt Volker, and Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov in the coming weeks. The ambassador said this on Wednesday in an interview with the Russian radio station.

“Kurt Walker is an outstanding diplomat, Mr. Surkov is an outstanding diplomat. And I would like to see them together here in Moscow, and maybe we can manage to organize something in the coming weeks”, he said. “There are no guarantees here, of course, it cannot be, because these are all complicated issues, but let's see if we can achieve something". Huntsman added that he hopes for renewed efforts, thanks to which people will be able to believe that the parties "are entering a new phase where serious negotiations can be held and changes are expected for the better".

Earlier, the director of the Center for Political Conjuncture Alexei Chesnakov told the Russian media that Walker had once again asked for a meeting with Surkov. According to him, Walker asks for a meeting at the end of August in Moscow, consultations are ongoing. Walker and Surkov have held a series of meetings since August 2017. So far, four meetings of Surkov with Volker have taken place. The first - on August 21, 2017 in Minsk, the second and third - in Belgrade on October 7 and November 13, 2017, respectively, the fourth - in Dubai on January 26, 2018. The ambassador expressed the hope that negotiations to resolve the situation in eastern Ukraine will be able to move from the dead point. 

In addition, the US Ambassador to Russia, John Huntsman, called the preservation of the so-called open doors for entrepreneurs one of the main achievements of his diplomatic mission in Moscow.