Top U.S., Russian diplomats meet on improving ties, ending Ukraine war — without Ukraine officials at the table | Global News Avenue

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Senior officials from Russia and the United States met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to start talking about improving ties and negotiations end Ukrainian War.

A delegation led by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met at the Diria Palace in Riyadh. The meeting marked another crucial step for the Trump administration, reversed the U.S. policy of segregating Russia and aimed at paving the way for a meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump earlier this month raised U.S. policies to Ukraine and Russia, saying he and Putin agreed to start negotiations on the war.

Ukrainian officials did not attend the meeting, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that his country would not accept the results if Kyiv was not included.

Rubio was accompanied by U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, while Lavrov sat on Kremlin diplomatic adviser Yuri U Next to Yuri Ushakov. Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal Bin Farhan and National Security Adviser Al Alban joined Rubio, Lavrov and others to start the meeting, but are expected to be Leaving early in negotiations.

Ushakov said Monday’s talks would be “pure bilateral” and exclude Ukrainian officials.

Negotiations are a significant expansion of U.S.-Russian contacts in nearly three years in the war, which has seen relations drop to their lowest levels in decades.

Lavrov and then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony briefly talked about the interval between the G-20 meetings held in India about two years ago, while in the fall of 2022, U.S. and Russian spies in Washington The concerns of meeting in Turkey, Moscow met in Turkey. Nuclear weapons in battlefield setbacks.

Europeans gathered

The U.S.’s recent diplomatic blitzkrieg against the war Send Kyiv and key allies scramble to make sure the table sits on the table There are concerns that Washington and Moscow may reach an agreement that is against them in advance.

France convened an emergency meeting between EU countries and the UK on Monday to decide how to respond. French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that he spoke to Mr. Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy by phone after the meeting.

Macron wrote on X: “We seek strong and lasting peace in Ukraine. To achieve this, Russia must end the aggression, which must be accompanied by strong and reliable security assurances of the Ukrainians,” he vowed to vow. “Work with all Europeans, Americans and Ukrainians.”

Prior to that meeting, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer Said for the first time on Monday Britain could deploy its troops to Ukraine to help ensure ultimate peace. Sweden also expressed its willingness to deploy its troops to Ukraine to maintain peace.

Although other European powers refused to make clear commitments and instead raised discussions about deploying peacekeeping personnel to Ukraine as premature birth, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk ruled out sending Polish troops to neighboring countries.

Prior to the French conference, Tusk did stress that European powers should immediately spend more on defense.

“If we now, Europeans don’t spend a lot of time on defense now, then if we don’t prevent a wider war, we’ll be forced to spend 10 times.”

Saudis try to act as mediator

Before the talks in Riyadh, Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, who may join the meeting, emphasized their importance in their comments to the Associated Press.

“Good U.S.-Russia relations are very important to the world. Only Russia and the United States work together to resolve many world problems, resolve global conflicts and provide solutions,” Dmitriev said. .

Saudi Arabian satellite channel Al Arabiya cited the Russian delegation’s justification, saying Moscow’s priority was “true normalization with Washington.”

Diriyah Palace sat opposite Riyadh’s diplomatic district. It is also next to the Ritz Carlton Hotel, which has been detained by de facto leader Mohammed Bin Salman, and has detained other princes and the country’s elites. He was famous in 2017 to control the Kingdom.

Presiding the talks was an important step for Prince Mehamed to pursue throughout the war – putting the kingdom in diplomatic negotiations. Saudi Arabia assisted prisoners negotiations and held Zelenskyy in the Kingdom in 2023 for the Arab League summit. Zelenskyy may travel to Saudi Arabia later this week.

For Prince Mohammed, former President Joe Biden, who was killed in 2018 by Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi, was described as a “untouchable” and hosted this The speech made Westerners excited by the otherwise little-known image he had.

Before the summit, Saudi Daily Okaz described the moment as “a world vision about Riyadh.”

Written in the London-but Saudi Arabian-owned newspaper Asharq al Awsat, journalist Mishari al-Dhaidi described the summit as an “important step in the international political chess arena, revealing the status of Saudi Arabia and its positive impact on all people. ”

The prince also maintained close ties with Russia throughout the Ukrainian war through OPEC + oil cartel and diplomatic Russia.

Hosting the summit also balanced the country’s recent harsh criticism of Mr. Trump’s strict media expropriation as he repeatedly commented on his desire for the United States to “own” the Gaza Strip, which was damaging by Israeli military offensives, because On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked. Palestinians want a future state of Gaza and the West Bank, which is supported by the wider Arab world and almost all international community.