Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that the United States has canceled the next scheduled round of bilateral talks aimed at easing tensions between the two countries.

“We hope this pause will not be prolonged,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement cited by Reuters.

Relations between Moscow and Washington have deteriorated sharply since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, triggering the most serious confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cold War. Senior diplomats from both capitals told Reuters in 2024 that they could not recall a time when ties between the two powers were in a worse state.