Russian and US delegations have held talks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The American side emphasised that the meeting is not about starting negotiations, but to work out if Russia is “serious” about to end the Ukraine war.
Russia said that its priority is to begin normalising relations with the US.
The US delegation was made up of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
For Russia, it was Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Putin’s foreign Policy Advisor, Yuri Ushakov.
The Saudi hosts; Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud and National Security Adviser Musaed bin Mohammed al-Aiban stayed in the room only to make welcoming statements, before they left the two delegations for the talks to start.
Neither Volodymyr Zelenskyy nor any other Ukrainian officials were present.
Zelenskyy is instead in Turkey, meeting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
After the talks which lasted four hours, Russia’s Chief Foreign Policy Adviser, Yuri Ushakov said that it “went well” and was “a serious conversation on all issues.”
He also said that the two sides agreed for negotiators to talk about Ukraine, and briefly discussed the conditions needed for a Putin-Trump summit, although he noted it was unlikely to take place next week.
Ushakov disclosed that separate teams of Russian and US negotiators will begin contacts on Ukraine in due time.
He added that the decision to begin contacts with US on Ukraine ultimately would fall to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On any Trump-Putin meeting, he said that “the delegations of the two countries need to work closely together.” He stated, “We are ready for this, but it is still difficult to talk about a specific date for the meeting of the two leaders.”
US, Russia Agree To ‘Address Irritants’ To Bilateral Relationship
US state department spokesperson, Tammy Bruce said in a readout after the talks that the US and Russian delegations agreed to “address irritants to our bilateral relationship with the objective of taking steps necessary to normalise the operation of our respective diplomatic missions.”
Bruce disclosed that the two sides also agreed to appoint high-level teams for Ukraine talks, “working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible in a way that is enduring, sustainable, and acceptable to all sides.”
The US and Russia will also begin to look at “future cooperation on matters of mutual geopolitical interest and historic economic and investment opportunities which will emerge from a successful end to the conflict in Ukraine,” he added.
“President Trump wants to stop the killing; the United States wants peace and is using its strength in the world to bring countries together. President Trump is the only leader in the world who can get Ukraine and Russia to agree to that.
“The parties to today’s meetings pledge to remain engaged to make sure the process moves forward in a timely and productive manner.”
Tammy Bruce
But on timelines, the statement noted that “one phone call followed by one meeting is not sufficient to establish enduring peace,” and so it is only a start of the process. “We must take action, and today we took an important step forward,” she added.
The US also thanked Saudi Arabia for hosting the talks.
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