Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in mid-July that Moscow and Washington had held unadvertised Track II contacts between experts who discussed the Ukraine issue.
"The Russian Foreign Ministry receives information about the content of such 'consultations,' although it does not consider it necessary to hold them at the current stage of the special military operation due to the political bias toward Russia of the participants from the US and other unfriendly countries," Zakharova said.
The spokeswoman added that although Moscow does not consider such Track II contacts useful, the ministry has no right to restrict contacts of Russian experts with their foreign counterparts in a directive manner.
"The Russian Foreign Ministry does not consider such contacts useful in the current environment, but we do not have the right to restrict communication between domestic political scientists and foreign colleagues in a directive manner. Russia is a free country," Zakharova said.
She added, however, that "participation in such events, as a rule, has no added value" from the point of view of Russia's state interests.