Russia Rubio meets Lavrov - talks without Ukraine representative
The first meeting between the US and Russian foreign ministers, Marco Rubio and Sergey Lavrov, has begun in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh. The Russian Foreign Ministry posted a photo of the meeting on its Telegram channel.
18.02.2025, 09:16
SDA
According to Moscow, the meeting is intended to serve as preparation for possible negotiations to resolve the Ukraine conflict and for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. Dates have not yet been set. Representatives of Ukraine or the EU are not present in Riyadh.
According to information from Moscow, Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy advisor, will be attending on behalf of Russia. Rubio will be accompanied by the US Special Envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, among others.
Relations between the USA and Russia have almost come to a standstill in recent years due to the war in Ukraine. Lavrov's meetings with the previous US Secretary of State Antony Blinken were only sporadic and on the fringes of international meetings such as the G20 format.
Last week, US President Donald Trump surprisingly called Russian head of state Vladimir Putin and spoke about a possible end to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The two agreed to start negotiations and to meet in person. Rubio and Lavrov also spoke on the phone.
According to Russia, the meeting was also about improving relations between Moscow and Washington. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, a communication channel is planned to reduce the accumulated problems. According to Russian sources, the telephone conversation between Rubio and Lavrov was also about improving bilateral trade relations.
The USA and the other countries in the G7 group, including Germany, have provided Ukraine with military and financial support over the past three years. Among other things, the interest on frozen Russian state assets has been made available to Ukraine. With Western aid, Ukraine has been defending itself against a Russian invasion for almost three years. Russia controls around a fifth of Ukraine's territory, including the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also traveled to the Gulf at the same time and met President Mohammed bin Sajid in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). On Wednesday - one day after the Russian-American meeting - he is also expected in Saudi Arabia, as the German Press Agency was informed by Arab diplomats in Riyadh.
