US and Russian officials have been meeting in Saudi Arabia for talks to end the war in Ukraine, leaving Kyiv to watch from afar.
While the talks have been framed as “exploratory” by both sides, it is already clear that Moscow is insisting on conditions that will be unacceptable to Ukraine and its allies.
Talks between Russia and the United States are a “huge accomplishment” after years of enmity, Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and part of Moscow’s negotiating team in Saudi Arabia, told CNN.
The uptick in US-Russia relations is “starting from a very low base,” Dmitriev said Tuesday after talks wrapped in Riyadh, citing the lack of communication under the Biden administration.
Tuesday’s talks were “respectful” and the two sides aimed to “understand each other’s position,” he said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “extraordinary opportunities” could be available for both the United States and Russia if the war in Ukraine ends.
Rubio said the US and Russia are “beginning to engage in identifying extraordinary opportunities that exist should this conflict come to an acceptable end,” following talks in Riyadh.
Rubio said there are “credible opportunities” for the US to “partner with the Russians geopolitically on issues of common interest and, frankly, economically.”
The United States and Russia agreed on four principles following talks that lasted more than four hours in Saudi Arabia, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
Credit: cnn.com
