Senior American and Russian officials, including the best diplomats in the countries, will hold conferences on improving their links and the negotiation of the war UkraineThe Kremlin said on Monday, in what would be the most important meeting between the parties since the Moscow’s large -scale invasion of its neighbor almost three years ago.
The talks, scheduled for Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, mark another consecutive stage by the Trump administration to reverse American policy on the isolation of Russia and are supposed to open the way to a meeting between US President Donald Trump and the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The movements sent kyiv allies and the main allies to ensure a siege at the table among the concerns that Washington and Moscow could move forward with an agreement that will not be favorable to them. France called on Monday an emergency meeting of the countries of the European Union and the United Kingdom to decide how to contact the American diplomatic blitz on war.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Foreign Affairs Advisor Yuri Ushakov will go to the Saudi capital later. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and special envoy Steve Witkoff will meet the Russian delegation, said state department spokesperson Tammy Bruce. Ukraine will not participate.
Peskov said that talks will mainly be focused on “restoring the entire American-Russian relations complex, as well as the preparation of possible talks on the Ukrainian regulations and the organization of a meeting of the two presidents” .
Speaking on the Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” program, Witkoff said that he and Waltz “would have meetings towards the president” and will hope “very good progress in terms of Russia-Ukraine”.
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Witkoff has not directly answered a question on the question of whether Ukraine should give up an “important part” of its territory within the framework of any negotiated regulations. The US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, said last week that NATO membership for Ukraine was not realistic and suggested that kyiv should abandon the hope of winning all his territory of Russia – Two key elements on Putin’s list of wishes.
The talks would mark a significant expansion of American-Russian contacts, almost three years after a war that has seen the ties falling at the lowest level for decades. Lavrov and the Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, spoke briefly on the sidelines of a G-20 meeting in India almost two years ago. They chatted for about 10 minutes, and there was no indication of a movement towards the softening of intense tensions at the time. In the fall of 2022, the American and Russian Spymasters species met in Türkiye.
Tuesday’s talks follow last week’s telephone call between Trump and Putin in which the American president said they “agreed that our respective teams immediately begin negotiations”. The call upset the years of American politics, ending Moscow’s isolation during its February 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine. After the call, Trump phoned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to inform him of their conversation.
Trump told journalists on Sunday that Zelenskyy would be involved “but had not developed. Zelenskyy said on Monday that his country had not been invited to the upcoming talks and would not accept the result if Ukraine does not participate.
The American-Russia talks “would not give any results”, given the absence of Ukrainian officials, said Zelenskyy at a conference call with journalists from the United Arab Emirates. Ukraine’s participation in any peace talks had been the foundation of American policy under the predecessor of Trump, Joe Biden.
Zelenskyy said he would go to Turkey on Monday and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, but that his trip to the Arab nation was not linked to the American-Russia talks. Andriy Yermak, a high adviser from Zelenskyy, said that there was no possibility that Ukrainian and Russian representatives meet directly “until we develop a plan” to end the war and provoke a ” just peace ”.
EU officials have put pressure for the block – that the United States with the United States has firmly supported Kyiv – to have a say in peace talks in Ukraine, and Zelenskyy and its officials have also insisted about the fact that Europe was to be present at negotiations.
Lavrov was disdainful when he was asked about a possible role for Europe, saying that “I don’t know what they have to do at the negotiating table”.
Zelenskyy also confirmed that Trump’s special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, retired general Keith Kellogg, will arrive in kyiv on February 20 for “major conversations on security guarantees”.
Zelenskyy said he wanted to bring Kellogg on the front line and hoped that the American would take what he had learned from his trip to Ukraine to the White House, adding: “I think that after being returned to the United States, We will have an understanding of knowing when I have a meeting with President Trump. »»
Zelenskyy said that the possibility of opening up mineral resources in his country in the United States, as Trump suggested, should be accompanied by a written agreement on security guarantees for Ukraine. Ukraine and several European countries have insisted that without security guarantee, Russia could again invade the country, even if a regulation is reached.
These guarantees could include membership of NATO, on which Hegseth has paid cold water, weapons and economic support, said Zelenskyy.
Ukraine has also expressed the hope of joining the EU, but it is complicated and could take years.
–Sipke reported by kyiv, Ukraine and Hatton de Lisbon, Portugal.
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press