U.S. and Russia Begin Ukraine Talks in Saudi Arabia
Russia-U.S. talks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 18, 2025. X/ @mfa_russia
February 18, 2025 Hour: 9:11 am
Meanwhile, President Zelensky said he would ask for ‘security guarantees’ from the U.S., the European Union and Türkiye.
On Tuesday, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud confirmed that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks in Riyadh.
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Other U.S. officials in Riyadh include National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff. On the Russian side, senior political, intelligence, and economic officials participated, including Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin’s foreign affairs adviser.
Russia and the U.S. agreed to respect each other’s interests during talks, Ushakov said, adding that intensive work is still needed to organize a meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
“We are ready, but it is still difficult to talk about a specific date for a meeting between the two leaders. We will work to create conditions for such a meeting,” the Kremlin’s adviser said, stressing that a face-to-face meeting between Trump and Putin “is unlikely” to take place next week.
As for Ukraine, Ushakov stressed that both sides have outlined their positions and agreed that their negotiating teams will be in contact in due time. “The talks are over. It didn’t go badly. We had a very serious conversation on all the issues we wanted to discuss,” he added.
“The Americans must appoint their representatives, and then we will appoint ours. Then, of course, the work will begin,” the Russian official said, adding that Putin “will decide for himself when we receive the names of the American participants.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would ask for “security guarantees” from the U.S., the European Union and Türkiye for any peace deal reached with Russia.
“We want peace and an end to the war. But we want the end of the war to be based on certain security guarantees,” Zelensky said ahead of his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
teleSUR/ JF
Sources: EFE – Xinhua
