Russian and American delegations will meet in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh on 25 February for their second round of talks, German publication Die Zeit reports, citing diplomatic sources.
According to Die Zeit, this meeting will follow up on discussions held last week between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The meeting on 18 February marked the first high-level encounter between the two countries since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
Once again, representatives from Ukraine and the European Union were not invited to participate in these talks, the publication notes.
The Riyadh negotiations take place one day after French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Washington, where he met with US President Donald Trump at the White House. Following their meeting, Trump claimed that a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine could be reached within the coming weeks.
In a television interview after meeting with Trump, Macron also suggested that a ceasefire in the Ukraine war could come “within a few weeks.”
RFE/RL notes that the German publication did not specify exactly who would participate in the dialogue.
Related:
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- Trump refused to call Putin a dictator: “I don’t use those words lightly”
- Russian advances would take 83 years to capture remaining Ukraine, ISW says in its Ukraine Fact Sheet
- Pentagon disputes Trump’s $ 350 billion Ukraine aid claim
