U.S. and Russian officials, including the foreign ministers of both countries, began talks in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Tuesday, aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
اضافة اعلان
Television footage showed Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Saudi National Security Advisor Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban sitting at a table with the participants, according to AFP.
On the U.S. side, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and former Trump special envoy to the Middle East Steve Wittkoff were present. On the Russian side, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Kremlin diplomatic advisor Yuri Ushakov attended.
The discussions will focus on reaching agreements to end the war in Ukraine, a goal U.S. President Donald Trump has said he could achieve during his election campaign, in addition to reducing tensions between the two nations.
An unnamed "negotiator" source told AFP that Moscow "expects progress in the economic aspect of the talks with the Americans within two or three months."
The talks are being held at the Diriyah Palace, located northwest of Riyadh. This marks the first such discussions at this level between the two sides since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that, "by the direction of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Kingdom is hosting... talks between the Russian Federation and the United States in Riyadh, as part of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to promote global security and peace."
Trump and Putin spoke for over an hour on Wednesday, marking the first known direct communication between a U.S. and Russian president since Putin spoke with former U.S. President Joe Biden shortly before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Trump stated that he and Putin agreed during the call to start negotiations "immediately" regarding the war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin spokesperson confirmed that preparations for a meeting between the two presidents could take several months, but both sides agreed that Riyadh was the "right place" for the meeting.
