Delegations from Russia and the United States held talks in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, on February 18.
This is what Russian propagandists and Reuters write about.
Russia was represented at the negotiations by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation Yuriy Ushakov, and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev.
The US was represented at the meeting by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and White House Special Representative for the Middle East Steve Witkoff.
The meeting lasted about 4.5 hours. Ushakov said that the talks went "not bad", but "itʼs hard to say yet that Russia and the United States are getting closer".
Ushakov also stated that separate teams of Russian and the US negotiators regarding Ukraine "will enter into contact", without specifying when this will happen and who will be part of these teams.
A specific date for the meeting between Putin and Trump has not been agreed upon, and it is unlikely to take place next week.
Dmitriev told Reuters that it was too early to talk about compromises, but "both sides have started to listen to each other, treating each other with respect and as equals".
Later, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce reported that the US and Russia agreed at the meeting to create negotiating teams to end the war in Ukraine.
According to her, the countries will begin work "on the earliest possible end to the war in Ukraine in a way that is long-lasting, sustainable and acceptable to all sides".
In addition, they agreed to eliminate "irritants" in US-Russian relations and lay the foundation for future cooperation on issues of mutual geopolitical interest, as well as "historic economic and investment opportunities that will arise as a result of a successful conclusion to the war in Ukraine".
- President Volodymyr Zelensky previously stated that Kyiv would not recognize the results of the dialogue in Saudi Arabia, as it does not accept the possibility of any negotiations without Ukraineʼs participation.
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