Russia And U.S. Agree To Work Toward Ending Ukraine War In A Remarkable Diplomatic Shift | EUROtoday

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Russia and the U.S. agreed Tuesday to begin working towards ending the conflict in Ukraine and bettering their diplomatic and financial ties, the 2 international locations’ prime diplomats mentioned after talks that mirrored a rare about-face in U.S. international coverage beneath President Donald Trump.

In an interview with The Associated Press after the assembly, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned the 2 sides agreed broadly to pursue three targets: to revive staffing at their respective embassies in Washington and Moscow, to create a high-level crew to help Ukraine peace talks and to discover nearer relations and financial cooperation.

He confused, nevertheless, that the talks — which have been attended by his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and different senior Russian and U.S. officers — marked the start of a dialog, and extra work must be completed.

Lavrov echoed Rubio’s remarks and instructed reporters that “the conversation was very useful.”

“We not only listened, but also heard each other,” he mentioned.

Trump’s nationwide safety adviser, Michael Waltz, and particular Mideast envoy Steven Witkoff joined Rubio on the desk, together with Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s international affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov.

No Ukrainian officers have been current on the assembly, which got here because the beleaguered nation is slowly however steadily shedding floor in opposition to extra quite a few Russian troops in a grinding conflict that started practically three years in the past.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned his nation wouldn’t settle for any final result from the talks since Kyiv didn’t participate, and he postponed his personal journey to the dominion scheduled for Wednesday.

European allies have additionally expressed issues that they’re being sidelined.

Trump confirmed little persistence for Ukraine’s objections to being excluded from the talks. He mentioned repeatedly that Ukraine’s leaders by no means ought to have allowed the conflict to start, suggesting the nation ought to have been keen to make concessions to Russia earlier than the 2022 invasion.

“Today I heard, ‘Oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you been there for three years. You should have ended it three years” in the past, Trump mentioned throughout a information convention at his Florida residence. “You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.”

Ties between Russia and the U.S. have fallen to their lowest degree in many years in recent times — a rift that has been widening ever since Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and solely worsened after Moscow’s full-scale invasion.

The U.S., together with European nations, imposed a raft of sanctions on Russia in an effort to break its economic system. And embassies in Washington and Moscow have been hit arduous by expulsions of enormous numbers of diplomats, in addition to different restrictions.

Rubio mentioned Tuesday that ending the conflict in Ukraine might “unlock the door” for “incredible opportunities” to accomplice with the Russians on problems with frequent curiosity “that hopefully will be good for the world and also improve our relations in the long term.”

His feedback have been additional proof of the exceptional U.S. reversal on Russia after years by which Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, led worldwide efforts to isolate Moscow.

Tuesday’s assembly was meant to pave the best way for a summit between Trump and Putin. After the talks ended, Ushakov and Waltz mentioned no date has been set but for that summit. Ushakov instructed Russian tv {that a} assembly was “unlikely” to happen subsequent week, whereas Waltz mentioned he thought it could possibly be organized within the coming weeks.

Speaking to reporters after the assembly, Lavrov talked about the identical three targets as Rubio and mentioned that Washington and Moscow agreed to nominate representatives to hold out “regular consultations” on Ukraine.

“I have reason to believe that the American side has started to better understand our position” the Russian international minister mentioned.

The assembly marked probably the most in depth contact between the 2 international locations since Moscow’s Feb. 24, 2022, invasion. Lavrov and then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken talked briefly on the sidelines of a G-20 assembly in India practically two years in the past, however tensions remained excessive.

The current U.S. diplomatic blitz on the conflict has despatched Ukraine and key allies scrambling to make sure a seat on the desk amid issues that Washington and Moscow might press forward with a deal that gained’t be favorable to them.

Kyiv’s absence at Tuesday’s talks rankled many Ukrainians, and France known as an emergency assembly of European Union international locations and the U.Ok. on Monday to debate the conflict. Kyiv’s participation in such talks was a bedrock of U.S. coverage beneath Biden.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce mentioned the talks have been geared toward figuring out how severe the Russians are about attaining peace and whether or not detailed negotiations can begin.

Rubio mentioned Tuesday that there could be “engagement and consultation with Ukraine, with our partners in Europe and others. But ultimately, the Russian side will be indispensable to this effort.”

Rubio additionally mentioned ending the battle would require concessions from all sides and that Washington “is not going to predetermine” what these concessions could be.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth mentioned final week that NATO membership for Ukraine was unrealistic and instructed Kyiv ought to abandon hopes of successful all its territory again from Russia — two key gadgets on Putin’s want checklist.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday mentioned he spoke by cellphone to Trump and Zelenskyy following Monday’s European assembly.

“We seek a strong and lasting peace in Ukraine,” Macron wrote on social media platform X. “To achieve this, Russia must end its aggression, and this must be accompanied by strong and credible security guarantees for the Ukrainians,” he mentioned and vowed to “work on this together with all Europeans, Americans and Ukrainians.”

The assembly on the Diriyah Palace within the Saudi capital of Riyadh additionally highlighted de facto chief Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to be a significant diplomatic participant, burnishing a repute severely tarnished by the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Saudi state media described the talks as taking place on the prince’s course. Like the neighboring United Arab Emirates, the prince has maintained shut relations to Russia all through its conflict on Ukraine, each by means of the OPEC+ oil cartel and diplomatically as nicely.

Saudi Arabia has additionally helped in prisoner negotiations and hosted Zelenskyy for an Arab League summit in 2023.

But Zelenskyy postponed his personal journey to Saudi Arabia scheduled for this week, suggesting that he needed to keep away from his go to being linked to the talks since Ukrainian officers weren’t invited. His go to was rescheduled for March 10.

Meanwhile, Russia continued to pummel Ukraine with drones, in keeping with Kyiv’s army. The Ukrainian air drive mentioned Russian troops launched a barrage of 176 drones at Ukraine in a single day, most of which have been destroyed or disabled by jamming.

One Russian drone struck a residential constructing in Dolynska within the Kirovohrad area, wounding a mom and her two youngsters and prompting an evacuation of 38 residences, the regional administration reported.

Litvinova Reported from Tallinn, Estonia. Associated Press Writers Bara Anwer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Jon Gambell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Sylvie Corbet in Paris stubbed to this report.