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- Face-to-face time: what will be discussed at the first meeting of the Russian and US delegations
Face-to-face time: what will be discussed at the first meeting of the Russian and US delegations
The first official talks since 2021 between Moscow and Washington will be held in Saudi Arabia on February 18. The sides will discuss the restoration of the entire range of bilateral relations, as well as the prospects for resolving the Ukrainian conflict. At the same time, no territorial concessions to Kiev are out of the question, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who heads the Russian delegation. It is possible that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will also meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days. At the same time, Vladimir Zelensky has already said that he does not recognize the results of the negotiations between the Russian Federation and the United States. How the Russian-American dialog brings the conflict in Eastern Europe closer to an end - in the material "Izvestia".
In Riyadh will start negotiations between Russia and the United States
The Russian delegation at the talks in Saudi Arabia is represented by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov and the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev. From the United States will be Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the American president's national security adviser Mike Waltz and Trump's special envoy for the Middle East Steve Whitkoff. Riyadh, on the other hand, is acting not only as a negotiating platform but also as a mediator, according to some media reports.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
Lavrov and Rubio, the foreign ministers of the two countries, are meeting for the first time. This was preceded by two phone calls held at the initiative of the American side. The first one was between the Russian and US presidents on February 12. As a result, an hour and a half dialog between the leaders gave an impetus to the start of the negotiation process on Ukraine. The second conversation took place directly between the Foreign Ministers on February 15.
At the talks, the Russian and US delegations will discuss, first of all, the restoration of the entire range of bilateral relations, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the previous day. The Ukrainian conflict may also be on the agenda of the meeting. Yury Ushakov later specified that Riyadh would have to agree on how exactly to start negotiations. The main thing on the agenda is normalization of relations and intensification of contacts, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Virtually all dialog between the countries was frozen at the initiative of the previous US administration immediately after the start of Russia's SWO in Ukraine. Relations between Moscow and Washington after Joe Biden's administration have reached such a low level that the sides will first have to at least restore normal contacts. Therefore, the discussions are likely to be on more important issues than Ukraine, according to Alex Krainer, founder of Krainer Analytics, a European analyst.
- More important issues will be raised during the dialog: the future of bilateral relations between the two powers and the security architecture of the Eurasian continent and the rest of the world. And this is rather a deviation from the status quo that has developed over the past two centuries. I believe that US Secretary of State Rubio's statement that the moment of unipolarity is over and that the world will have to move towards multipolarity means acceptance of this new reality," Alex Krainer told Izvestia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump (right)
It is worth noting that in the future peace process, there is no question of any territorial concessions to Ukraine, Sergey Lavrov said the previous day. He also stressed that European countries had nothing to do at the negotiations on Ukraine if they aimed at freezing the conflict for further arming Kiev. Earlier, Finnish President Alexander Stubb called for a ceasefire to strengthen Ukraine's military capabilities.
It is possible that after the conversation between Lavrov and Rubio, the leaders of the two countries will also meet very quickly. This could happen already by the end of February. Both Putin and Trump have several times expressed their readiness for a face-to-face conversation, including during a telephone conversation. The head of the White House the day before noted that the meeting could take place "very soon". At least on the agenda of the negotiations of the Russian and American delegations in Riyadh should be the organization of a summit of leaders.
Prospects for resolving the conflict in Ukraine
Both Russia and the US have recently expressed their readiness to resolve the conflict in Ukraine through diplomatic means. After Donald Trump's victory, Vladimir Putin has repeatedly allowed a meeting with the new American president. There is also sincerity in the intentions to resolve the crisis on the part of the United States. Thus, Vice President J.D. Vance is the first high-ranking US representative in three years who came to the Munich Security Conference not to criticize and accuse Moscow, but to shed light on the real problems for European security. He also told Izvestia that he was ready to come to Moscow for talks on Ukraine.
U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance
The intensification of bilateral dialog is bearing fruit in the commercial sphere as well. The U.S. Treasury Department is developing a list of about 20 Russian banks that will be reconnected to the SWIFT system and will be able to carry out a full range of transactions, Western media reported, citing U.S. officials. It is possible that Visa and Mastercard cards will return to Russia and even Western brands that left Russia after the start of the special operation. They will be able to enter the country on a competitive basis, and this competition would be in the interests of consumers, Dmitry Peskov said.
As for the Ukrainian settlement directly, it is too early to talk about any progress. Vladimir Zelensky said that he knew nothing about the negotiations between Russia and the USA and does not intend to recognize them at all. He himself will also go to Riyadh on an official visit, but a day later - on February 19. According to him, the trip was planned long ago, and he intends to discuss issues related to the exchange of prisoners. Publicly, Zelensky ruled out any contacts with Russian and American representatives. However, some sources claim that the dialog between Ukraine and the United States will still take place, but only after Russian-American interaction. Zelensky, who seems resigned to the fact that Kiev will not become part of NATO, talks a lot about security guarantees for Ukraine.
View of Riyadh
- The biggest stumbling block remains not joining the alliance or even annexing new territories to Russia, but providing Ukraine with security guarantees acceptable to Russia. Zelensky calls for the introduction of 200,000 NATO peacekeeping troops. Putin will never agree to this," Peter Kuznick, director of the Institute for Nuclear Studies at the American University in Washington and professor of history, told Izvestiya.
The media and expert community are considering the following scenarios: deployment of a small peacekeeping force of 7,500 people, formed with the consent of both Moscow and Kiev; sanctions against the side that resumes hostilities; Ukraine's failure to join NATO, but with the prospect of EU membership; Kiev's consent to a ban on long-range missiles; and a freeze on the line of contact followed by a peaceful resolution of territorial disputes. But all this is still only speculation.
Europe's role in the Ukrainian settlement remains unclear. The Russian side does not yet see the expediency of the participation of European representatives in the negotiation process. The US promises to involve the EU, but later. Trump's special envoy Keith Kellogg is expected to discuss the settlement in Ukraine with European allies in February. The German Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, believes that negotiations without European participation are meaningless. The day before, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed his readiness to deploy British troops in Ukraine. He said that London was ready to play a leading role in accelerating the work on security guarantees for Kiev. In this connection, French President Emmanuel Macron even convened an emergency summit of European leaders to discuss Europe's role in the Ukrainian settlement, which the USA is apparently questioning.
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