Russia and US to resume 2+2 meetings

On Monday it was reported that Russia and the U.S. may resume meetings between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense in a 2+2 format according to the Russian newspaper the Kommersant.

On Monday it was also announced that President Vladimir Putin would meet with U.S. President Barack Obama in Northern Ireland as part of the G-8 Summit in June of this year and then hold full-fledged negotiations in relation to the G-20 Summit in St. Petersburg.
During the course of the meeting in St. Petersburg, the parties plan to announce one of the key steps towards the normalization of bilateral relations, namely the resumption of meetings of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense of the Russian Federation and the United States in the 2+2 format says the publication.

According to the publication the last times negotiations were held in this format were in 2007 and 2008: it was during these meetings that the foundations were laid for a new treaty on strategic arms reduction in 2010 and many Russian concerns about the plans of the then U.S. President George Bush on missile defense were resolved.