Washington and Moscow have also committed themselves to looking for “annoying” solutions in their bilateral relationships. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky regretted not having been invited to participate in negotiations.
A few days before the third anniversary of the Ukrainian Russian invasion, Washington and Moscow decided to end the conflict “as soon as possible”.
To achieve this, the United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed on Tuesday (18/2) to appoint “high -level teams” to find a “lasting, sustainable and mutually acceptable solution” .
This was one of the results of the meeting between the delegations of the United States and Russia in Riyad, the capital of Saudi Arabia, to which no representatives of Ukraine or of any European country have been invited.
The meeting between Rubio and Lavrov was the first meeting of this level since Vladimir Putin launched his so called “special military operation” against Ukraine on February 22, 2022.
In addition to ending the fighters, the authorities have agreed to “prepare the soil” for the future cooperation in “questions of mutual geopolitical interest and historical economic and investment opportunities that will derive from a successful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine”, he said The declaration issued by the State Department.
“A phone call followed by a meeting is not enough to establish lasting peace. We have to act and today we have taken an important step forward,” added the declaration.
Moscow, in turn, simply declared that the negotiations “did not go wrong”.
Marco Rubio: “Nobody was left out”
After the meeting, which lasted five hours, Rubio denied that the absence of representatives of Ukraine and European Union could be interpreted as an exclusion from these countries by a peace agreement.
“Nobody was left outside here,” said the head of the United States diplomacy during a press conference.
Rubio therefore said that these negotiations could produce “some very positive things for the United States, Europe, Ukraine, in the world”.
“But first, we have to put an end to this conflict,” said Rubio.
He said this meeting is “the first step in a long and difficult way” to end the war and that tries to “establish communication lines” between Washington and Moscow.
The Russian minister, in turn, believed that the conversations were important because “we felt”.
Rubio said he was “convinced” that Russia is “willing to start participating in a serious process” to end the war in Ukraine.
He said that the United States and Russia would restore their ambassadors mutually, because they would need active diplomatic missions “that could normally work to continue” negotiations.
As for sanctions against Russia, he said that “all parties” must make “concessions” to end “any conflict”.
He summarized today’s meeting as “the first step in a long and difficult journey” to end the war in Ukraine.
Russia strengthens its red lines
Sergei Lavrov, in turn, described the conversations of Tuesday as “very useful”.
“I have reason to believe that the American part now understands our position better,” he said.
As for the reintegration of the ambassadors, he explained that the United States will appoint for the first time and Russia will do the same.
He said that both governments also remove “obstacles to diplomatic missions”, including restrictions on bank transfers.
The Russian Foreign Minister reiterated the position of his government according to which any expansion of the organization of the North Atlantic Treaty (born) and Ukrainian admission would be a “direct threat” for Moscow.
The head of Russian diplomacy also rejected the possibility of sending foreign soldiers to ensure compliance with a possible peace agreement.
“The presence of armed forces under another flag changes nothing. Of course, it is totally unacceptable,” he said.
Lavrov refused to comment on the statements made by the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who in recent days has declared that he did not accept any agreement in which his country does not participate.
The Kremlin insisted that Putin is ready to talk to Zelensky “if necessary”.
From Turkey, the Ukrainian president complained that “conversations were held on Ukraine without the participation of Ukraine” and asked his allies to “do not make mistakes”.
The meeting in Riyadh took days after the president of the United States Donald Trump spoke on the phone with Putin on the subject.
Moscow described the possibility of a face -to -face meeting between the two leaders in the next few days as “unlikely”.
“We agree that a team separated from the negotiators establishes the contact in debt time,” said Yuri Ushakov, a foreign councilor of Putin.
Zelensky: “We have to participate”
While the US and Russian foreign ministers were talking to Saudi Arabia, Zelensky was in Türkiye for a meeting with the president of the country Tayyip Erdogan.
Zelensky has reiterated its position that Ukraine must participate in peace negotiations.
“Ukraine and Europe in a wider sense – and this includes the European Union, Turkey and the United Kingdom – must be involved in negotiations and in the development of the security guarantees necessary with the United States,” he said.
He added: “We want everything to be right and that nobody decides anything behind us … We were not invited to this American Russian meeting in Saudi Arabia. It was a surprise for us, just like many other people. We learned about it for the media.
As for the territorial dispute of the war, he said that “however difficult it is, Ukraine will not legally recognize the parties occupied by Russia”.
He also said: “The east (from Ukraine) is ours, Crimea is ours, and also all the other cities and villages that are important for us”.
“We know that the United States and several European partners do not support our affiliation of NATO. I think this is a great desire for Russia and coincides with this result,” he said.
He also revealed that he had postponed a visit to Saudi Arabia for this week.
This is exactly the image that Russia wants to pass the world
Analysis by Sarah Raininsford
Correspondent of the BBC in Eastern Europe
The vision of the high Russian and American representatives sitting again around a large wooden table is extraordinary in the current context and probably very difficult to digest to many, in particular Ukrainians.
But this is exactly the image that Moscow wants to convey to the world: Russia on the “main table” of global diplomacy, it seems to be at the same level as the United States and even able to make decisions.
Because it is not defeated Russia, forced to sit at the negotiation table. It is as if the United States were inviting the author to define his terms for peace.
One of these Russian authorities, the veteran foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, is even the goal of the sanctions of the United States for his involvement in a “brutal intentional war” that he totally supports.
The United States claim that they are trying to probe Moscow to check if they are seriously willing to end the invasion.
But Russia will currently project the image around the brilliant Saudi table as proof that the war in Ukraine and the subsequent isolation of Russia were only an isolated accident and that everything will soon be as before.
Source: Terra
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