U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov kicked off talks in Riyadh on ending the war in Ukraine, with Kyiv notably absent, according to a photo released by Russia’s Foreign Ministry.
Also attending are Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
The Kremlin said Tuesday’s talks aim to lay the groundwork for formal Ukraine peace negotiations and a future meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. No date has been set for the presidential summit.
Neither representatives from Ukraine nor European countries were invited to the discussions in Saudi Arabia. European leaders met in Paris on Monday evening to discuss how to respond to being sidelined – with no concrete outcome.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday before traveling to Riyadh for talks with the Saudi leadership on Wednesday.
Zelenskyy has declared that he does not recognize the legitimacy of the talks between Rubio and Lavrov. He emphasizes that any negotiations over a resolution to the conflict can only occur with Kyiv's involvement.
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 led to a severe rift between the United States – led at the time by Joe Biden – and Russia.
Following this, there were only occasional meetings between Lavrov and former US secretary of state Antony Blinken on the fringes of international meetings.
Last week, Trump called Putin to discuss a possible end to the war, in a move that shocked Ukraine and its allies. The two agreed to start negotiations and to meet in person.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday's meeting is about improving relations between Moscow and Washington, with the aim of establishing a channel of communication to reduce the problems that have accumulated.
Ahead of the meeting between Lavrov and Rubio, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev met with U.S. representatives for talks on the possible resumption of economic cooperation between the two countries.
In an interview with U.S. broadcaster CNN on Monday, Dmitriev praised Trump's representatives as great problem solvers. "And I think President Trump is a great problem solver," he added.
Dmitriev denied that Moscow's main goal was bringing about an end to the sanctions on Russia. "It's very important to build bridges. I think US-Russia relations are very important for the world," he told CNN.
