Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met in Saudi Arabia for bilateral talks on the U.S.-Russia relationship and the future of Ukraine. Kyiv was not present for the discussions.
The negotiations lasted about 4.5 hours and, according to Putin’s top aide Yuri Ushakov, “went well,” though Ushakov said there’s still “intensive work” to be done before a summit between the two presidents.
Washington and Moscow agreed to establish a consultation mechanism to address “irritants” in bilateral relations “with the goal of taking the necessary steps to normalize the operation of the respective diplomatic missions” and “lay the groundwork for future cooperation on issues of mutual geopolitical interest and historic economic and investment opportunities.”
Earlier in February, Trump had a phone call with Putin, which the U.S. leader described as “lengthy and highly productive.” According to Trump, the two agreed to work together “very closely” to find a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine.
