Moscow, Feb 17: Senior American and Russian officials, including the countries’ top diplomats, will hold talks on improving their ties and negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin said Monday, in what would be the most significant meeting between the sides since Moscow’s full-scale invasion nearly three years ago.
The talks, scheduled for Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, mark another powerful step by the Trump administration to reverse US policy on isolating Russia, and are meant to pave the way for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The moves have sent Kyiv and key allies scrambling to ensure a seat at the table, and France called an emergency meeting of European Union countries and the UK on Monday to decide how to address the US blitz.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov will fly to the Saudi capital later in the day.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will meet the Russian delegation, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said. Ukraine will not participate.
Peskov said the talks will be primarily focused on “restoring the entire complex of US-Russian relations, as well as preparing possible talks on the Ukrainian settlement and organising a meeting of the two presidents.”
Speaking on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” programme, Witkoff said he and Waltz will be “having meetings at the direction of the president,” and hope to make “some really good progress with regard to Russia-Ukraine.” In his TV interview, Witkoff didn’t directly respond to a question about whether Ukraine would have to give up a “significant portion” of its territory as part of any negotiated settlement.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that NATO membership for Ukraine was unrealistic and suggested Kyiv should abandon hopes of winning all its territory back from Russia – two key items on Putin’s wish list.
Lavrov and then-US Secretary of State Antony Blinken talked briefly on the sidelines of a G-20 meeting in India nearly two years ago. The two chatted for about 10 minutes, and there was no indication of any movement toward easing the intense tensions between their two nations at the time.
In the fall of 2022, US and Russian spymasters met in Turkiye. (pti)
