In the Monday talks, the Russian side represented, among others, 2 diplomats under Western sanctions: Grigorij Karasin, presently head of the Committee on abroad Affairs of the Federation Council (High home of Parliament), and Sergei Biesied, advisor to the Head of the national safety Service (FSB). According to the media and commentators, they are not people who have a real impact on Kremlin decisions. According to Interfax Karasin, after nearly 3 hours of talks, he estimated that they were "creative" and that both sides discussed issues considered to be "elective" in bilateral relations.
