NYT: The US Secretary of State reassured Europeans after talks with Russia

The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reassures European allies after talks with the Russians in Riyadh. He says the US is not moving away from its consistent policy towards Russia.

This is reported by The New York Times, citing sources.

The publication cites the results of Rubioʼs phone conversation with officials from the UK, France, Germany and Italy. It was officially confirmed by the US State Department, but the details were not specified.

Speaking to the Europeans, Rubio said the Saudi meeting was more of a first step in the process — a test of whether the Kremlin is serious about a peace deal in Ukraine. So no, the Trump administration has no plans to impose the terms of any bilateral agreements with Russia on Ukraine or Europe.

The United States will not lift sanctions against Russia unless Moscow shows a significant change in its behaviour. But it is possible that some of them will be eased if the Russians begin to take the steps the United States seeks. At the same time, Rubio is aware that Russia could try to use the talks to sow discord in the West or ease its isolation on the international stage.

The NYT notes that Rubioʼs private conversation with European officials was more conciliatory than the official statements of the American side. He explained that Ukraine and the European Union were not invited to the negotiations, because most of the conversation concerned bilateral issues in US-Russian relations. In particular, they discussed the restoration of diplomatic missions. So these negotiations were the first test of Russiaʼs intentions, Rubio assured.

He also told the Europeans that he could not say from this one meeting whether the Russians were serious about a peace deal. But, he said, they had given enough signs that it was possible to warrant further discussions.

The conversation ended with Rubio calling for unity and promising to keep allies updated on developments.

• On February 18, Russia and the United States held their first talks in Saudi Arabia. No specific date was agreed upon for the meeting between Putin and Trump. Trump said it could happen "very soon," and the Kremlin did not rule out the possibility that it could happen by the end of February.
• After the talks, the US President Donald Trump sharply criticized Kyiv and Brussels, and also called Zelensky a “dictator without elections”. However, Rubio explained that Trump was supposedly “very upset” — Ukraine should thank the American aid and sign the mineral agreement.

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