Russia and US agree to ‘lay the groundwork’ for future negotiations as first face-to-face talks on Ukraine conclude

The United States and Russia have negotiated face-to-face for the first time since Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine almost three years ago. Delegations led by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met in Riyadh Tuesday to discuss Ukraine and the future world order they are preparing, in the absence of two key parties in the process: Kyiv and the European Union. At the conclusion of the meeting, they agreed to “lay the groundwork for future cooperation” between the two countries, a process they hope will lead to “a successful end to the conflict in Ukraine,” according to a statement released by the State Department. With somewhat less enthusiasm, Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said: “It is still difficult to talk about a rapprochement between the positions of Moscow and Washington,” although the more than five hours of talks, in his opinion, were “not bad.”

Ushakov said that both delegations “agreed to take account of each other’s interests.” According to the Russian side, this was a preliminary contact and the negotiating teams from Washington and Moscow will discuss the war in Ukraine “in due course.”

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce revealed that the two nuclear powers will create a new consultation mechanism to “address irritants” to their bilateral relationship and will move toward “normalizing” their respective diplomatic missions, which have been depleted by the expulsions of diplomats in recent years.

Bloomberg reported that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin could meet as early as next week, although Ushakov later said this timeframe was unlikely. Contacts at different levels have been in place for months and some U.S. media claimed that both leaders had called each other in secret previously, but the official negotiation began Tuesday under the watchful eye of Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. Trump promised in 2017 that he would sanction his regime for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a figure who gained relevance among the thousands of political victims in Saudi Arabia, but eight years later Riyadh has not only not been punished but has reinforced its influence in the fragmented international community and in the West with its investments in strategic companies.

The negotiations in Riyadh were accompanied by a multiplication of messages emphasizing the exclusion to which Europe is being subjected in this process. Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Glushko ruled out the presence of the European Union in the next round of negotiations with the U.S. and flatly rejected the proposal of a peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, one of the proposals that European leaders have outlined so far, although there is a division regarding whether to deploy such a force or not. “The Russian Federation is against European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine; this would be an escalation,” said the diplomat, who added he sees no sign of rapprochement between Russia and Europe and demanded that the bloc not supply arms to Kyiv.

Moscow is not attempting to hide its euphoria over the negotiations. “We see a nervous, if not to say panicky reaction of the West to the Russia-U.S. contacts,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, while the talks in Riyadh were underway. “Russian-American contacts at high and the highest levels are causing real hysteria among Euro-Atlantic Russophobes.”

The public optimism of the authorities and Russian propaganda contrast with Trump’s alleged intentions regarding Ukraine. Moscow thinks that Kyiv is an inalienable part of what it calls Russkiy Mir — the “Russian world,” a space beyond its borders that the Kremlin believes to be its own, directly or indirectly — but the American president wants Ukraine to hand over control of its rare earths, hydrocarbons, ports, and other infrastructure to recoup the military and economic support provided over the years. According to The Telegraph, Trump has demanded $500 billion from Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government, a figure that would be greater than the reparations demanded from Germany after the First World War.

The head of the economic part of the delegation sent by the Kremlin, Kirill Dmitriev, displayed his regime’s absolute willingness to do business with Washington again and to collaborate on its expansion into new strategic areas of the planet. “We need to make joint projects, including, for example, in the Arctic Region, and in other areas,” said the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund before the talks began.

The Arctic will be one of the next major geostrategic battles between the great powers. The melting of ice caused by climate change is opening up new trade routes through the Arctic Circle that are much more direct and cheaper than the current ones, and Trump announced after his inauguration that his plans include annexing Greenland to gain a foothold in the area.

The statement from Rubio’s department indicates that Washington has taken up Moscow’s gauntlet. Among the objectives discussed on Tuesday, both parties have agreed to “lay the groundwork for future cooperation on matters of mutual geopolitical interest and historic economic and investment opportunities which will emerge from a successful end to the conflict in Ukraine,” according to the U.S. State Department.

“Joint projects will make the Russian and American economies more successful,” Dmitriev told Russian news agencies. Some media outlets close to the Kremlin (both public and otherwise) reported on Tuesday, without any confirmation, that several Western companies, such as Coca-Cola and Zara, are considering reopening their businesses in Russia.

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