A U.S. and Russian delegation met in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Feb. 18 to advance talks on ending the Russia–Ukraine war.
The United States and Russia have agreed to form high-level teams to handle negotiations to end the Russia–Ukraine war, the U.S. State Department announced on Feb. 18.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House national security adviser Mike Waltz, and special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff met with a Russian delegation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday to discuss the war in Ukraine and other areas of tension in U.S.–Russia relations.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and presidential aide Yuri Ushakov represented the Russian side of the discussions.
“We’re going to appoint a high-level team from our end to help negotiate and work through the end of the conflict in Ukraine in a way that’s enduring and acceptable to all the parties engaged,” Rubio told reporters following the Tuesday meeting.
The Riyadh talks mark the latest efforts by the Trump administration to boost diplomatic dialogue with Russia as it pursues a peace settlement.
Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week and announced Russia was ready to move ahead with negotiations.
Related Stories
Along with appointing teams to advance the talks, Rubio said another key takeaway for the Russian and U.S. teams was the need to expand their diplomatic missions in each other’s countries, to better facilitate the discussions.
“For us to be able to continue to move down this road, we need to have diplomatic facilities that are operating and functioning normally,” he said.
In addition to its embassy in Moscow, the U.S. diplomatic mission to Russia has included a consulate general in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok and another consulate in the western city of Yekaterinburg.
The Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg consulates have both suspended their normal operations, citing “critically low staffing of the United States mission to Russia.”
No Ukrainian representatives were present at the meeting in Riyadh, and while the Trump administration has had other recent contacts with the Ukrainian side, the meeting between the Russian and U.S. delegations appeared to frustrate Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy said his country wouldn’t accept any outcome from the talks, since his team wasn’t part of the discussions. The Ukrainian leader postponed his trip to Saudi Arabia, scheduled for Feb. 19.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This is a developing story and will be updated with additional details.
