Russia and the US agreed to “lay the foundation for future cooperation” to strengthen the ties and the end of the war of Ukraine after the first months of the invasion of President Vladimir Putin performed the first high -level interviews.
After four and a half hours of negotiations in Riyadh on Tuesday, the US Foreign Ministry said both sides named “high -level teams” to try to end war and create a diplomatic channel to solve two -sided problems.
“It must be a permanent end of the war and not a temporary end, as we have seen in the past,” said National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, accompanied by Foreign Minister Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump in a special ambassador Steve Witkoff in interviews.
“The practical reality is that it will discuss the territory and discuss security warranty, these are just the basic foundations,” added Waltz, noting that Trump was “determined to move very quickly”.
In the language largely reflecting the Russian party, the US Foreign Ministry said that the new diplomatic channel between the two countries would “put the foundations for future cooperation on matters of mutual geopolitical interest and historical economic and investment opportunities” after the end of the Ukrainian War.
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian sovereign fund of rich wealth, said FT that two parties discussed “restoring economic ties in those areas that are interesting to each other”.
He refused to offer specifics, but said it could include joint investments in “various companies”, creating “joint companies with American partners” and investing in Arctic.
Tuesday's meeting in Riyadh was the first of its kind between the US and Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in Moscow 2022. Almost a few weeks ago, Russian and American flags flew almost unthinkable, where the meeting took place.
Interviews meant an extraordinary turn only a few days after Trump called Putin last week in an effort to end the war – without consulting Ukraine or its European allies.
This step raised concerns in Kiev and European capitals that the US President wants settle conflict from Moscow's conditions.
The US seemed to give up some of Putin's basic requirements before Tuesday's interviews began, after saying the Ukrainian ambitions to join NATO and the regenerated territory currently occupied by Russia, they were not “realistic”.
A hard line that Putin would take over to Ukraine stressed that it is “necessary to solve the original reasons” for conflict and to ensure “legal interests of all countries in the region”.
This indicated that the Kremlin did not meet its goals to conquer large areas of Ukraine and prevent the country from remaining a functioning state.
Russia excluded a role in Europe in interviews and demanded the alliance to abolish the open invitation of 2008 to Kiev.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenkyy said that after American-Russian interviews he was overwhelmed by a visit to Saudi Arabia and described Tuesday's sessions as a “surprise”.
Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy advisor, said that the US and Russia would work to “create conditions” to meet Trump-Putin, but said that it would probably be next week, because first “thorough work” will be needed.
Ushakov added that Keith Kellogg, Trump's envoy to conflict, would deal with relations with Ukraine and Europe, which means that the US would name someone else to take the lead with Moscow.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that both parties agreed to “ensure the rapid appointment of ambassadors to the capital cities and eliminate obstacles that Biden Administration introduced about our diplomatic missions”.
These obstacles included “the exclusion of diplomats, the question of the seizure of our property and banking transactions,” Lavrov said. “Our deputies will soon organize an appointment to assess the need to remove these obstacles,” he added.
Normalization relations would require the abolition of US sanctions against Russia, which was one of the main requirements of Moscow.
Rubio said that the EU “will have to be at the table at some point, because they also have sanctions that have been stored”.
Asked what concessions Moscow would make in return, US Foreign Minister said that any such step would result from “hard, difficult diplomacy” in “closed rooms for a certain period”.
He added, “No one is displaced here.”
Given that Europe is trying to respond to US-Russian interviews, French President Emmanuel Macron plans an emergency meeting of European leaders on Wednesday, second this week, according to people informed about plans.
The meeting is largely intended for countries that were not invited to the previous summit on Monday The leaders clashed Through sending peace forces to Ukraine. While the UK offered “shoes to the ground”, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain expressed his unwillingness to do so.
Lavrov said on Tuesday that any European peace commitment was “unacceptable”. He also indicated that Moscow refused the US request to stop attacks on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure and falsely – falsely – that Russia did not attack civilian goals
Waltz said the US was performing “shuttles diplomacy” and consulted Zelenskyy and Macron, while Trump will meet the Prime Minister of Great Britain Keir Starmer next week.
He added that he refused “the idea that our allies were not consulted”.
Kyiv said he refused Agreement on it saved Without its involvement, while European countries were left to cut to return at the table.
When Tuesday's interviews took place, Zelskyy visited his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who had previously tried to play in the conflict of Making role.
“We do not want peace to be behind the scenes without our involvement,” the Ukrainian president said. “Without Ukraine cannot be achieved by peace.”
Other news of Polina Ivanova and Anastasia Stognei in Berlin, Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul, Henry Foy in Brussels, Leila Abboud in Paris and George Parker in London
