Ukraine
Information: US agrees to Russian demand
Agnès Ericson,
Rebecka Rosengart
Updated 23.16 | Published 13.21
Today, the US-led talks on a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine were held in Saudi Arabia.
The US is said to have approved the Russian demand for new Ukrainian elections, according to information to The Telegraph.
During a press conference, Trump announced that he will likely meet Putin before the end of February.
Top diplomats from the US and Russia met today in the Saudi Arabian city of Riyadh to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. No Ukrainian representative was invited to the meeting.
Among those present in Riyadh were US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
– Today was the first step on a long and difficult journey, Marco Rubio said afterwards, Reuters reports.
Russian adviser Yuri Ushakov said the meeting “went well”.
The conversation lasted just over four hours.
Want to work towards an end
Russia and the United States announced after the meeting that they want to appoint a negotiating team for peace in Ukraine.
– Rubio and Lavrov have agreed to appoint a high-level team to work towards ending Russia’s war in Ukraine as soon as possible, said Russian adviser Yuri Ushakov.
But a final decision on these teams would fall to Putin, according to Ushakov.
Tammy Bruce, a spokeswoman for the US State Department, also said that the countries between them should “work to end the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible in a way that is lasting, sustainable and acceptable to all sides”.
Russia's demands
Shortly after the meeting ended, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova issued clear demands. Among other things, she said that NATO must withdraw its 2008 promise to grant Ukraine membership in the alliance. Ukraine should remain neutral, she said.
– Otherwise, this problem will continue to poison the atmosphere of the European continent," Zakharova told Reuters.
From this evening, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that they will also not accept any peacekeeping forces from NATO countries in Ukraine, reports the BBC.
May force Ukraine to hold new elections
In addition to the above-mentioned demand, several diplomatic sources told Fox News that Russia may try to force Ukraine to hold new elections.
It would be part of the peace agreement the countries want to work towards.
Both the United States and Russia believe that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj would have a low chance of winning a re-election, the sources said.
All sides must make concessions, US Secretary of State Rubio said today after the meeting.
On several occasions, the Ukrainian president has said that Ukraine will not accept peace terms that do not include the country's participation.
Information: US agrees to Russian demands
On Tuesday evening, The Telegraph reported, citing sources, that the US has reportedly met with Russia and approved a Ukrainian presidential election.
The same information claims that the US will not send any of its own peacekeeping forces to Ukraine.
The proposal on the table consists of three phases, the British newspaper writes. The first phase consists of a ceasefire, the second of a new election in Ukraine and the third a signed peace agreement.
Continued discussions
There are questions about whether Trump and Putin will meet to continue talks on a peace agreement. But no immediate plans have been made for a meeting between them. Russian adviser Ushakov said that it was “unlikely” that a meeting between them would take place next week.
– The delegations of the two countries must work closely together. We are ready for this, but it is still difficult to set a specific date for when the meeting between the two leaders will take place, Ushakov said.
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