Reid Standish
Top U.S. and Russian officials have finished their first talks on ending the war in Ukraine, with the Kremlin voicing new demands as Washington and Moscow agreed to move quickly to normalize their ties and begin negotiations around the nearly three-year conflict.
The more than four-hour meeting in Riyadh — which was attended by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov — is part of a major diplomatic push by the United States to bring the war to an end. The discussions were framed by U.S. officials as exploratory talks that could pave the way for a potential in-person meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Rubio told reporters after the February 18 meeting in the Saudi capital that the talks were “the first step of a long and difficult journey” over ending the war in Ukraine and that the U.S. and Russian delegations agreed on four principles during their discussions.
These comprise fully restoring their diplomatic missions in Washington and Moscow after years of sanctions and expulsions, appointing a high-level team to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, exploring further “geopolitical and economic cooperation that could result from an end to the conflict in Ukraine,” and ensuring that the U.S. and Russian delegations present in Riyadh will remain engaged in discussions moving forward.
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