U.S. and Russia agree to ‘begin working on a path’ to end war in Ukraine following talks in Saudi Arabia
On February 18, U.S. and Russian delegations met in Riyadh for the first official talks between the two countries since early 2022 — before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The ongoing war and ensuing break in relations between Russia and the West were central to the discussions. But Kyiv was neither informed of the talks ahead of time nor invited to attend. “Ukraine considers any negotiations about Ukraine without Ukraine to be meaningless. We cannot recognize any agreements or decisions made about us without us. And we will not recognize such agreements,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Be that as it may, Russian and U.S. officials claim that the talks in Saudi Arabia resulted in an agreement to “begin working on a path” to ending the war. Here’s what the sides have said so far about what the talks did — or didn’t — accomplish.
Delegations from Russia and the United States met in Saudi Arabia’s capital on February 18 for talks that included discussions on ending the war in Ukraine. The meeting, which did not include Ukrainian or European officials, marked the first official in-person talks between Russia and the U.S. since Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov led the Russian delegation, which included presidential aide and foreign-policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, and the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Kirill Dmitriev, among others. The U.S. delegation, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, included National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
The talks lasted about four and a half hours, with two breaks, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
Following the meeting, Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov described the discussions as “very serious” and said the talks “went well.” “We agreed to consider each other’s interests while working to improve bilateral relations. Both Moscow and Washington are interested in this,” he said. According to Ushakov, the two sides discussed preparations for a potential meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, though he noted this was “unlikely to take place next week.” He also said that separate negotiating teams from Russia and the U.S. would establish contact regarding Ukraine.
In turn, RDIF Head Kirill Dmitriev told Reuters that while “it is too early to talk about compromises,” both sides had “started listening to each other.” Ahead of the meeting, Dmitriev said Russia had presented the U.S. with a set of trade and economic proposals. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the talks covered “the full range of contentious issues” between Moscow and Washington.
At a press briefing after the talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that both sides had agreed to approve ambassadors to each other’s countries as soon as possible. He then called for “removing the obstacles” hindering the work of their diplomatic missions. According to Lavrov, the two delegations agreed to lay the groundwork for restoring bilateral cooperation “in full” and to begin a “process for a settlement in Ukraine” in the near future.
Lavrov also claimed the United States is expected to name a representative for negotiations on ending the war. “As soon as we learn the name and position of the U.S. representative, we will immediately put forward our own,” he said, adding that Russian officials made clear to their U.S. counterparts that the presence of NATO peacekeepers in Ukraine was unacceptable to Moscow. Meanwhile, U.S. officials at the meeting in Riyadh proposed a moratorium on attacks against energy infrastructure in both Russia and Ukraine, Lavrov said.
In turn, the U.S. State Department announced that Washington and Moscow have agreed to work to “reestablish the bilateral relationship.” This included a decision to “establish a consultation mechanism to address irritants to our bilateral relationship with the objective of taking steps necessary to normalize the operation of our respective diplomatic missions,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said. Rubio, in turn, said that Russia and the United States had agreed to restore embassy staffing levels in Moscow and Washington.
Bruce emphasized that achieving lasting peace in Ukraine will take more than “one phone call followed by one meeting.” “We must take action, and today we took an important step forward,” she said. Bruce also told reporters that Lavrov and Rubio had agreed to form “high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine.” The two sides also agreed to “lay the groundwork for future cooperation on matters of mutual geopolitical interest and historic economic and investment opportunities, which will emerge from a successful end to the conflict in Ukraine,” Bruce said.
Commenting on Tuesday’s talks, President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine will never accept Russian ultimatums. “If we didn’t agree to all these ultimatums at the most difficult moment, where does this sense come from that Ukraine will go along with this now?” Zelensky asked, recalling Kyiv’s rejection of the Kremlin’s demands at the beginning of the full-scale war. The Ukrainian president also announced the postponement of his own visit to Saudi Arabia until March 10.
Following the talks in Riyadh, a Fox News correspondent reported that Russia and the U.S. had put forward a three-stage peace plan for ending the war in Ukraine. Citing foreign diplomatic sources close to the talks, Fox News senior White House reporter Jacqui Heinrich wrote on X that the plan would include a ceasefire, elections in Ukraine, and then the “signing of a final agreement.” While Heinrich initially described holding elections in Ukraine as a “key condition” of the proposed settlement, she later cited a U.S. source familiar with the talks who walked back this claim. “People are ‘floating’ the elections piece — and ‘it may be part of future talks, but not today,’” she quoted the source as saying.
At the press conference in Riyadh, however, Russia’s Lavrov said he had seen no such plan. “I haven’t seen this information,” he told reporters.