US and Russian diplomats have agreed to restart diplomatic relations between the two countries.
This was disclosed after US-Russia meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The US and Russia intend to appoint ambassadors “as soon as possible” to help with resolving any tensions that may arise in bilateral relations.
As a second step, they intend to start formal consultations on a peace deal on Ukraine, with Russia waiting for the US to name its top team, and negotiations expected to follow on a “regular” basis.
The US delegation said that the talks would include discussions on territory and security guarantees, as the priority would be on making it “a permanent end to the war.”
US National Security Adviser, Michael Waltz called them “underlying principles.”
“Those are fundamental basics that will, that will undergird and underlie any type of discussion.
“But I think the most important part is the President has stated his desire, his determination to end this war, to end the killing that is going on … It is not in the interest of either country. It’s not in the interest of the world, and certainly not in the interest of the United States and Europe. So all of those things will drive the negotiations going forward.”
Michael Waltz
When asked about Ukrainians and Europeans feeling sidelined in these talks with Russia, Waltz replied, “If you’re going to bring both sides together, you have to talk to both sides.”
He added, “And we’ll continue to remind everyone, literally, within minutes of President Trump hanging up with President Putin, he called [and] spoke with President Zelenskyy.”
He stressed that the US will continue to push back on “this notion that our allies haven’t been consulted,” adding, “they’re being and they are being literally almost on a daily basis, and we’ll continue to do so.”
Also, US State Secretary, Marco Rubio insisted that Ukraine and the European Union would be involved in the talks in some role.
“What’s important to understand is two things. The first is [that] the only leader in the world who can make this happen, who can even bring people together to begin to talk about it in a serious way, is President Trump.
“The second thing I would say is that in order for a conflict to end, everyone involved in that conflict has to be okay with it; it has to be acceptable to them.”
Marco Rubio
He noted that the meeting was “the first step of a long and difficult journey.”
He said that in order to bring an end to any conflict, there has to be concessions made by all sides but it would be wrong to “predetermine those.”
He hinted at a role for the EU further down the line, saying that “there are other parties that have sanctions, the European Union is going to have to be at the table at some point, because they have sanctions as well that have been imposed.”
“The goal is to bring an end to this conflict in a way that’s fair, enduring, sustainable and acceptable to all parties involved. What that looks like? Well, that’s what this what the ongoing engagement is going to be all about.”
Marco Rubio
US Iterates Calls For Increased Defence Spending In Europe
US National Security Adviser, Michael Waltz repeated calls for a “European-led security guarantee,” and increased defence spending in Europe.
He said that the fact that a third of NATO allies still do not contribute the minimum of 2% of their GDP to defence “a decade after we all collectively made that agreement isn’t acceptable.”
“This is a common effort. This isn’t just about what the United States is going to continue to contribute and what we are going to continue to ask of the American taxpayer. We all have to make those tough decisions.
“We all have to contribute to our common defence, and we expect that this to be a two way street for our European allies.”
Michael Waltz
He praised United Kingdom and France’s efforts saying, “The fact that both the United Kingdom, France, and others are talking about contributing more forcefully to Ukraine’s security, we think is a good thing.”
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