The heads of American and Russian officials were prepared on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia for the largest negotiations between the two countries for at least three years, as President Trump is trying to end the war in Ukraine and the Kremlin is looking for warmer ties with Washington.
Upon arrival in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, Russian officials said they would seek “normalization” with the United States, and even withstand the possibility that the main US oil society could return to Russia. Ukraine and Europe watched from a distance with deep concern, in the middle of fear that Mr. Trump may try to force a peace agreement in Ukraine that would be favorable to Russia.
The meeting comes less than a week after Mr. Trump’s long phone call with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin. Mr. Trump then said that both leaders had spoken of “great benefits” that the United States and Russia would “ever have in cooperation” and that both leaders agreed to “start negotiations immediately” to end the war in Ukraine.
Marco Rubio, State Secretary, is led by the US delegation in Riyadh; Michael Waltz, National Security Advisor; and Steve Witkoff, the Middle East Middle East and a long -time president friend. They were expected to meet Tuesdays with Russian officials, including Sergei V. Lavrov, Foreign Minister; Yuri Ushakov, an advisor to foreign policy Mr. Putin; and Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian sovereign fund of rich wealth.
Mr. Ushakov told reporters after landing in Riyadh that the aim of the interviews would “start a real normalization of the relationship between us and Washington”.
Mr. Dmitriev, who worked with Mr. Witkoff Broker release last week American teacher He was imprisoned in Russia and said he would try to restart economic cooperation with the United States to “rebuild communication, rebuild confidence, rebuild success”.
“American oil commanders have a very successful business in Russia,” Mr. Dmitriev said in a short interview on Tuesday before the start of the interviews, offering an example of how countries could restore business ties. “We believe it will return at some point, because why would they give up these opportunities that Russia has given them to have access to Russian natural resources?”
Leading western oil society, Including Exxon MobileHe left Russia after the invasion of Ukraine Mr. Putin almost three years ago. According to Mr. Trump and the Kremlin, last week there were calls between Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump.
Tuesday’s discussions will be for the first time since the beginning of 2022 that it is known that the wide delegations of higher American and Russian officials have personally met. The meeting is the next step in the offer of Mr. Trump to end the diplomatic isolation of Russia, which former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. He tried to enforce from the beginning of the invasion – a step that Trump’s administration said is necessary for a war to stop.
“If there is the possibility of progress towards Peace, we will have to talk to the Russians,” said Mr. Rubio at the CBS “Face The Nation” on Sunday.
In Europe and Ukraine, however, the news of Tuesday’s planned interviews met with confusion and concern. While Mr. Rubio characterized interviews as preliminary, there was extensive criticism in Europe that Mr. Trump’s approach to Russia was not coordinated with the United States. And Ukrainian officials insisted that they would reject any agreement on their country, which was agreed without their involvement.
“We cannot get to know any agreements about us without us,” said President Volodymyr Zelenky from Ukraine on Monday.
This week, Mr. Zelena is also in the Persian Gulf, where several countries have tried to use their relations with Moscow, Kiev and the West to play roles as mediators in the War of Ukraine. On Monday, Mr. Zelena was in the United Arab Emirates to discuss the stock exchanges and the return of Ukrainian children from Russia.
Ukrainian officials also said that Mr. Zelena would be in Saudi Arabia this week, but that Ukraine was not invited to US interviews from the US. Mr. Ushakov, an advisor to foreign policy of the Kremlin, said there were no plans for a three -way meeting with the Ukrainians.
“We came here to organize negotiations with American colleagues,” he said.
Andrew E. Kramer contributed by reporting from Kiev in Ukraine.
