Riyadh (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The US State Department reported that the United States and Russia agreed to address “irritants” to the U.S.-Russia ties and start working on a way to conclude Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Senior officials from the U.S. and Russia met in Saudi Arabia on February 18, 2025, to begin discussions on improving relations and negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and national security adviser Mike Waltz held talks for 4.5 hours with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Saudi Arabia as a continuation of U.S. President Donald Trump‘s telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.
They examined establishing a means to address “irritants to our bilateral relationship” with the purpose of normalizing diplomatic ties, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce stated in a statement.
Both countries also designated high-level teams to perform on ending the Ukraine conflict “as soon as possible in a way that is enduring, sustainable, and acceptable to all sides,” she stated.
The State Department expressed that the meeting was a significant step in an incipient process. “One phone call followed by one meeting is not sufficient to establish enduring peace,” Bruce said.
How are European leaders reacting to these diplomatic moves?
Analysts express that some regard the Trump administration as having granted Vladimir Putin some extent of victory just by agreeing to conduct the high-level meeting with his administration as the war he torched with his full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 grinds on.
They further say that sentiment may be deemed most acute by the President of Ukraine and European leaders, who were not invited to partake in the initial conversation about the fate of their nation.
However, the meeting observed another significant measure in President Trump’s move to switch three years of U.S. policy concentrated on isolating Russia over its fight on Ukraine, and it is suggested to pave the way for a likely discussion between Mr. Trump and Putin.
