Top Russian and US diplomats have held talks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to find a way to restore diplomatic relations, set the stage for a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, and pave the way for resolving the Ukraine conflict.
The Russian delegation was led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and includes Yury Ushakov, Putin’s top foreign policy aide. Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), also took part in the negotiation process. The American side was represented by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, and Steve Witkoff, the special envoy for the Middle East.
Neither Ukraine nor the EU attended the meeting, with Kiev signaling that it would not recognize the results of the talks unless it is included.
18 February 2025
The recent Ukrainian drone attack on a major oil pumping station in southern Russia is yet another reason to believe that Vladimir Zelensky and his team must be “brought to their senses,” Lavrov has argued.
According to the foreign minister, the US floated the idea of halting strikes on energy infrastructure. However, Lavrov noted that he told the US delegation that Russia has always targeted only military-linked energy infrastructure.
Moscow has signaled to the US that NATO expansion and Ukraine’s potential membership is “a direct threat to Russia’s interests and its sovereignty,” Lavrov stated. With this in mind, NATO troop deployment in Ukraine, even under EU or national banners, would be “unacceptable,” he added.
The sides have also agreed to create conditions for broad geopolitical and economic cooperation, with the process being tied up with the Ukraine conflict settlement, Lavrov has said.
Moscow and Washington have agreed to start the Ukraine conflict settlement process, Lavrov has said. He added that Russia will appoint its representative once Moscow receives information on who will be speaking for Washington.
Russia and the US have managed to address the least serious problems in relations, including the reciprocal appointment of envoys and removing some restrictions applying to diplomatic missions, Lavrov added.
Lavrov has described the talks as “very useful.” “We not only listened, but heard each other. I have a reason to believe that the American side now better understands our position,” he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio kicked off the meeting by underlining that every state must be guided by the drive to protect its national interest. Moscow fully agrees with this stance, Lavrov said.
Commenting on the prospects of lifting the sanctions on Russia, Rubio remarked that they were the direct consequence of the conflict. “In order to bring an end to any conflict, there has to be concessions made by all sides,” he said, noting that the EU imposed its own restrictions on Russia, and the bloc would have to be involved in the talks at some point.
There is a lot of “tough work ahead” regarding the future status of territories that joined Russia after February 2022, Waltz has acknowledged. “The important thing is that we have started this process.”
Asked about what the US would consider enduring peace in Ukraine, US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz stressed that Washington wants to see a permanent settlement. “We know, just the practical reality: There is going to be some discussion of territory… and security guarantees,” he told reporters.
The US will appoint a high-level diplomatic team “to help negotiate and walk through the end of the conflict in Ukraine in a way that is enduring and acceptable to all the parties engaged,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said, adding that Moscow and Washington could discuss “geopolitical and economic cooperation” that could result from the end of hostilities.
Russia and the US have agreed to restore embassy staffing after years of tit-for-tat cuts fueled by geopolitical tensions, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said, as quoted by AP.
“We’re going to need to have vibrant diplomatic missions that are able to function normally in order to be able to continue these conduits,” he said.
Lavrov also met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after the end of the talks with the US delegation, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.
The Trump administration has kept Kiev out of the loop regarding the topics it wanted to discuss with Russia during the talks in Saudi Arabia, the Washington Post reported, citing an unnamed Ukrainian official.
Trump officials “haven’t told us what they wanted to talk about, and we have no perspective on what Ukrainian interests they want to trade,” the source said, arguing that “it’s a weak path, to talk to Russia behind Ukraine’s back.”
Talks with Russia are “an important step forward,” US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce has said, as cited by Reuters. She added that the sides agreed 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.”
According to Bruce, Moscow and Washington also agreed to appoint “high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine.” The sides also seek to “lay the groundwork for future cooperation on matters of mutual geopolitical interest” and explore economic and investment opportunities which could present themselves after the end of hostilities.
The Russian and US diplomats have outlined their positions on the Ukraine conflict and agreed that “teams of negotiators will make contact on this topic in due course,” Ushakov has said.
“The Americans should appoint their representatives, we will appoint ours, and then, probably, the work will get underway.”
Ushakov noted that the Russian team’s composition will be decided by Putin once Moscow receives a list of US officials involved in the talks.
Ushakov has stated that the Russia-US talks were “not bad,” adding that the sides agreed to take account of each other’s interests. “It is hard to say yet whether [the Russian and US positions] are getting closer, but we have talked about it,” the Putin aide has said.
Russia media has released a short clip showing members of the Russian delegation exiting the palace after talks, which lasted for around 4.5 hours.
The Russian and US delegations have had “a very serious discussion on all issues,” according to Ushakov.
It is unclear so far when Putin and Trump would meet, Yury Ushakov, the Russian president’s top foreign policy aide, has said, adding that it is unlikely it will happen next week.
The ongoing Russia-US talks could pave the way for a Trump-Putin meeting in Saudi Arabia “as soon as next week,” Bloomberg has reported, without providing further details.
There is no reason to believe that Russia and the EU can reach a breakthrough in relations in the near future, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko has said. He reiterated that Moscow is against the deployment of European peacekeepers in Ukraine, warning that it would only lead to escalation.
The EU will play no role whatsoever in the future talks over Ukraine, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko has said. He added that if the bloc wants peace in the region, it should halt its arms deliveries to Kiev.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has shared photos of members of the Moscow and Washington delegations in the hall of the Diriyah Palace outside of the conference room.
US President Donald Trump has proposed a three-stage road map to Russia on settling the Ukraine conflict, German MEP Sergey Lagodinsky has claimed, citing his sources. According to the lawmaker, the plan includes a ceasefire followed by elections in Ukraine, and finally the “signing of a final agreement.”
Lagodinsky said the arrangement “is the complete fulfillment of all Putin’s desires,” claiming that the Russian leader “dreams of getting a pro-Russia candidate” in the country, while Trump could benefit from “a president who would be so weak that he would sign away all the Ukrainian resources.”
Russia sees “a nervous and almost panic-like reaction” from the West to the talks in Saudi Arabia, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova has stated. “We witness an unprecedented phenomenon in the international relations. [The West] is trying to impose its participation in the negotiation process,” she said.
The Russian and US delegations will continue their talks in Riyadh after a short break, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said. She added that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov plans to speak to reporters after the end of the negotiations.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has told Keith Kellogg, the US special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, that the bloc “is carrying its full share of military assistance to Ukraine and stands ready to do even more,” according to the readout of the conversation. She also stressed that any resolution of the conflict “must respect Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, backed by strong security guarantees.”
Ukraine has every right to seek EU membership as a sovereign country, Peskov has said. “We are talking about economic integration processes. Here, no one can dictate anything to any country... We have a completely different position on issues related to security, defense, or military alliances. Here, we have a different and well-known approach.”
Russia has always been ready to negotiate peace in the Ukraine conflict, Peskov said, arguing that the same was not true about Kiev, the EU, and the Biden administration. “The main thing for us is to achieve our goals. And, of course, we prefer peaceful means to achieve them.”
It is still unclear when Putin and Trump could have a face-to-face meeting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has told reporters. “Perhaps some estimates will appear based on the results of today’s talks. But we will find out about this later, at the end of this dialogue.”
The EU Commission has released a short clip of its president, Ursula von der Leyen, welcoming Keith Kellogg, the US special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. Earlier, several media outlets drew attention to the fact that the retired general is not present at the US-Russia talks in Riyadh.
Major US oil companies could “at some point” return to doing business in Russia, RDIF head Kirill Dmitriev has told the New York Times. “We believe at some point they will be coming back, because why would they forego these opportunities that Russia gave them to have access to Russian natural resources?”
RDIF head Dmitriev believes that Russia and the US could cooperate on a number of Arctic projects. “The Biden administration has spread a lot of disinformation... Our dialogue [with the Trump administration] allows us to show the truth that the Russian economy is developing at a good pace. We also need to work on joint projects, for example, in the Arctic and other areas,” he said.
Russia and the US could make progress in talks in two or three months, Dmitriev has said, without elaborating further. He went on to praise the Trump administration, noting that unlike Biden’s team, it is willing to listen to Moscow.
The policies of former US President Joe Biden undermined global confidence in the dollar, RDIF head Kirill Dmitriev said, adding that Western sanctions have helped shape Russia into a more independent nation. According to Dmitriev, the resumption of dialogue with the US proves that the West’s policy of deterring Moscow has failed.
TASS news agency showed a photo from the talks including members of the Russian delegation seated in front of their US counterparts.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov, and RDIF chief Kirill Dmitriev have arrived at the negotiations, according to a video shared by the Foreign Ministry.
The Russia-US talks will take place in Diriyah Palace belonging to the Saudi royal family, with the delegations expected to arrive soon.
The EU will have to “pony up” for Ukraine’s restoration at the demand of the United States, Nikolay Patrushev, a top aide to President Vladimir Putin, has said. In an interview with Russian daily Aif, he stated that the bloc got what it deserves, given that “the main culprits of the destruction in Ukraine are the EU countries, who recklessly finance the Ukrainian armed forces.”
The EU has been essentially excluded from talks over the future of Ukraine because it has failed to invest the appropriate amount of money into the military, Armin Papperger, the chief executive of the German defense company Rheinmetall, told the Financial Times. Rheinmetall has been one of the key enterprises supplying Ukraine with military equipment.
“If you don’t invest, if you’re not strong, they handle you like kids… If parents have dinner, the kids have to sit at another table. The US is negotiating with Russia and no European is at the table – it has become very clear that the Europeans are the kids.”
A Ukrainian drone attack on a major oil pumping station in southern Russia, which is linked to US companies, is a deliberate challenge from Kiev to Washington ahead of talks in Saudi Arabia, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said.
Medvedev compared the raid with an attack of an “animal on its master.”
“The overfed fat brute pounced on its owner, who paused the feeding and even began to think about butchering the annoying animal. And then, out of desperation, the brute decided to bite its owner and hurt him more. Dripping with sticky saliva, it grabbed the hand of its feeder. The hand of the President of the United States,” he said.
Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, has confirmed that he has already met with the members of US President Donald Trump’s team, describing them as “great problem-solvers.” He declined to speculate on the potential promises Washington will give Moscow, suggesting that the sides must have a full-fledged dialogue first.
It is very important for the US and Russia to “build bridges,” Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund (RDIF), told CNN prior to the talks. “US-Russia relations are very important for the world,” he said, underscoring the need for cooperation.
Asked whether his key goal is to see the removal of US sanctions against Russia, Dmitriev stressed that it is American companies that suffer from the restrictions the most. “It’s US businesses who lost $300 billion from leaving Russia.”