WE WERE NEVER HERE
FOUR-HOUR NEGOTIATING SESSION SOMEHOW PRODUCES NOTHING
A four-and-half-hour face-to-face negotiation marathon between Russia and the United States somehow produced only a promise to keep talking about peace in the Ukraine war on Tuesday, highlighting the difficulty of permanently ending the stalemated Russo-Ukrainian War, about to enter into its 14th year. The parties chose Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as the place to begin talks. After the meeting, the newly sworn-in Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that the parties had agreed to three steps—restoring embassies, bringing in a “high-level” team to negotiate peace in Ukraine, and the U.S. and Russia exploring a larger global partnership. The end result appears to be that Russia will be allowed to expand its diplomatic staff in the U.S. to reverse a ”series of reciprocal actions over the last ten years,” with the U.S. also expanding its diplomatic footprint in Moscow. Also in Riyadh with Rubio was National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and the newly appointed Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.
The U.S. and Russia did not invite Ukraine to the talks. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized the exclusion of Ukraine from the talks.
Noticeably absent from the negotiations was Trump’s Special Envoy for Russia and Ukraine, Retired General Keith Kellogg who arrived in Kyiv Wednesday morning for talks with Zelenskyy.
Waltz told reporters that the only proposal was that the U.S. sought a “permanent end to the war and not a temporary end.” Rubio, responding to a question about potential Russian concessions stated: “Well, again, we’re not going to pre-negotiate it, nor – an end to this conflict.” Waltz was similarly vague on negotiations, stating, “there is going to be some discussion of territory and there is going to be a discussion of security guarantees.”
RUSSIANS FOCUSED ON ECONOMICS
It appeared from the Russian side that the main purpose of the meeting was economics. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized the economic aspects of the talks, telling reporters, “a strong interest has been expressed in removing artificial barriers to the development of mutually advantageous economic cooperation.” Lavrov revealed that the Head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev participated in “economic facets of our meeting. He outlined certain issues that could be resolved swiftly to the benefit of both Russia and the United States.” The readout from the Russian Foreign Ministry highlighted the visit as unfreezing diplomatic relations, leaving mention of the Ukraine war to the third paragraph of its statement.
On Ukraine negotiations, Lavrov told the press that the U.S. had agreed to appoint their representative for negotiations. A day earlier, Lavrov did not seem in the mood for peace, telling press in Moscow that Kyiv “will not go unpunished,” and saying Ukraine “will receive what is due for what you have done, as the Bible says.”