US and Russia agree to negotiate end to Ukraine war following 4.5 hour talks – ‘We must take action’
The US and Russia will appoint teams to negotiate ending Ukraine war, the US State Department has announced.
Following high-level talks in Saudi Arabia, the two nations agreed to work out “irritants” in the in the “bilateral relationship” in order to normalise diplomatic relations, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a statement.
Both countries also appointed high-level teams to work on ending the Ukraine conflict “as soon as possible in a way that is enduring, sustainable, and acceptable to all sides”.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US. national security adviser Mike Waltz and US. envoy Steve Witkoff met for 4.5 hours with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Saudi Arabia.
The meeting follows a phone call between the US and Russian leaders last week.
“One phone call followed by one meeting is not sufficient to establish enduring peace. We must take action, and today we took an important step forward,” Bruce added.
The US also thanked Saudi Arabia for hosting the talks.
Whilst there is no official date for Trump-Putin meeting yet, the leaders are expected to meet, the US delegation says.
Rubio hailed Trump for making contact with Russia, saying it will be fundamental to any end of the invasion of Ukraine. “He’s the only leader in the world that could have started this process here today,” he said.
He added: “In order for a conflict to end, everyone involved in that conflict has to be okay with it, it has to be acceptable to them.”
Rubio adds that the “goal of today’s meeting” was to follow-up on the phone call between the two leaders last week and “establish those lines of communication”.
“Today is the first step of a long and difficult journey, but an important one.”
Sergei Lavrov. Russia’s foreign minister who was a part of the delegation in Riyadh, said that the meeting was “very useful,” as the sides “did not just listen to each other, but heard each other.”
“I have every reason to believe that the American side understands our position,” he said.
More to follow…