RIYADH: The United States and Russia agreed in Riyadh on Tuesday (Feb 18) to press ahead with efforts to end the war in Ukraine, a US official said, as Kyiv and its European allies watched anxiously from the sidelines and Moscow raised a major new demand.
US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the two sides agreed to appoint “respective high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible in a way that is enduring, sustainable, and acceptable to all sides”.
Russian negotiator Yuri Ushakov told reporters after more than four hours of talks: “It was a very serious conversation on all the questions we wanted to touch upon.”
Ukraine and European leaders are worried that President Donald Trump could cut a hasty deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin that ignores their security interests, rewards Moscow for its invasion and leaves Putin free to threaten Ukraine or other countries in the future.
Even while the meeting in the Saudi capital was underway, Russia signalled a hardening of its demands.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters in Moscow it was “not enough” for NATO not to admit Ukraine as a member. She said the alliance must go further by disavowing a promise it made at a summit in Bucharest in 2008 that Kyiv would join at a future, unspecified date.
“Otherwise, this problem will continue to poison the atmosphere on the European continent,” she said. There was no immediate response from Ukraine, NATO members or the United States.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has consistently demanded NATO membership as the only way to guarantee Kyiv’s sovereignty and independence from its nuclear-armed neighbour.
US spokesperson Bruce said in a statement: “President Trump wants to stop the killing; the United States wants peace and is using its strength in the world to bring countries together. President Trump is the only leader in the world who can get Ukraine and Russia to agree to that.”
She said the two sides had also agreed to consult in order to address “irritants” in their bilateral relations, which the Kremlin described as “below zero” during the previous US administration of Joe Biden.
Ushakov was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying conditions were discussed for a meeting between Trump and Putin, although he said it was unlikely to happen next week.
The talks in Saudi Arabia, which has friendly ties with both countries, underscored the rapid pace of US efforts to halt the war, less than a month after Trump took office and six days after he spoke by phone to Putin.
Critics say that Trump’s team, by ruling out NATO membership for Ukraine and saying that Kyiv’s desire to win back all its lost territory is an illusion, has made major concessions in advance. US officials say they are simply recognising reality.
Ukraine says no peace deal can be done on its behalf. “We, as a sovereign country, simply will not be able to accept any agreements without us,” Zelenskyy said last week.
