Ukraine
The meeting in Saudi Arabia ended: "Difficult journey"
Lasted four hours
Rebecka Rosengart
Updated 16.15 | Published 13.21
Today, the US-led talks on a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine were held in Saudi Arabia.
The two superpowers want to work to end Russia's war in Ukraine, reports Reuters.
During the afternoon, Russia made a clear demand
Top diplomats from the USA and Ryssland US and Russia met today in the Saudi Arabian city of Riyadh to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.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, reports Reuters.
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 US 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, Ushakov said.
Tammy Bruce, a spokeswoman for the US State Department, also said that the countries between them should “work towards ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible in a way that is lasting, sustainable and acceptable to all sides”.
Russia's demands
Sometimes after the meeting ended, one of Russia's spokespeople, Maria Zakharova, made clear demands. Among other things, she says that NATO must withdraw its promise from 2008 that Ukraine would be granted membership in the alliance. Ukraine should be neutral, she says.
“Otherwise, this problem will continue to poison the atmosphere on the European continent,” Zakharova told Reuters.
May force Ukraine to hold new elections
In addition to the aforementioned demand, several diplomatic sources told Fox News that Russia may try to force Ukraine to hold new elections.
That would be part of the peace agreement the countries want to work towards.
Both the United States and Russia believe that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky 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 its participation.
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 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 talk about a specific date for the meeting between the two leaders to take place, Ushakov said.
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