Following years of no communication, Russian and American delegations held a meeting in the Saudi capital Riyadh yesterday. The sides reportedly discussed rebuilding relations, preparations for a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, as well as prospects for resolving the conflict in Ukraine.
Russia was represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov and Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriyev.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Special Mideast Envoy Steven Witkoff comprised the US team.
No Ukrainian officials were present at the meeting, which came as the beleaguered country is slowly but steadily losing ground against more numerous Russian troops in a grinding war that began nearly three years ago.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country would not accept any outcome from the talks since Kyiv didn’t take part, and he postponed his own trip to the kingdom scheduled for Wednesday.
Meanwhile, media reports say the two countries’ top diplomats said after talks that Russia and the U.S. agreed Tuesday to start working toward ending the war in Ukraine and improving their diplomatic and economic ties.
In an interview with The Associated Press (AP) after the meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the two sides agreed broadly to pursue three goals: to restore staffing at their respective embassies in Washington and Moscow, to create a high-level team to support Ukraine peace talks and to explore closer relations and economic cooperation.
He stressed, however, that the talks marked the beginning of a conversation, and more work needs to be done.
Lavrov reportedly echoed Rubio’s remarks and told reporters that “the conversation was very useful.” “We not only listened, but also heard each other,” he was cited as saying.
TASS cited US State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce as saying in a statement that Rubio and Lavrov agreed to appoint respective high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible.
They reportedly also agreed to establish a consultation mechanism to address irritants to the bilateral relationship and lay the groundwork for future cooperation on matters of mutual geopolitical interest and economic and investment opportunities.
According to TASS, Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov said that the teams had a "very serious conversation on all issues."
However, it is still hard to say that the positions of Russia and the US are getting closer, according to the official. He also said Russia and the US agreed to "take into account each other's interests." According to the aide, a date for a meeting between Putin and Trump hasn’t been set and it is unlikely that it will take place next week. He said it is not yet clear who would be appointed as negotiators on Ukrainian settlement, as the president has yet to make a decision.
Dmitriyev said following the talks that the Russian and US teams treated each other with respect, as equals.
"It is too early to talk about compromises. We can say that the sides started communicating with each other, started listening to each other, started the dialog," he said.
According to Dmitriyev, the countries also discussed potential economic cooperation and energy prices.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the reaction of Western countries to the Russian-US talks is nervous and even hysterical. She also said there is now an “unprecedented phenomenon in international relations: efforts to impose one’s own participation in the negotiation process.”
