High-ranking US and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for the broadest negotiations between the two countries in at least three years.
Prior to talks in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, Russian officials said they would pursue “normalization” with the United States and retain the possibility that major US oil companies could return to Russia.
Ukraine and Europe were looking from afar with deep anxiety amid fears that Trump would attempt to enforce a peace deal in Ukraine that is beneficial to Russia.
The meeting took place less than a week after Trump's long-term call with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, and was temporarily postponed for noon prayers before it resumed.
Trump then spoke about the “great benefits” that the two leaders have from “one day working together,” and “will begin negotiations soon to end the war in Ukraine. “He said he agreed to this.
The US delegation was led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz. Steve Witkoff, a Middle Eastern envoy and longtime friend of Trump.
The delegation met with Russian foreign minister Sergei V. Lavrov at the Dyriya Palace in Riyadh on Tuesday. Putin's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov. Kiril Dmitriev, head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, was expected to take part in the meeting later that day.
Ushakov told reporters after landing in Riyadh that the goal of the talks was to “start a true normalization of US-Washington relations.”
Dmitriev, who worked with Witkov to mediate the release of a teacher at an American school who was imprisoned in Russia last week, said he was in the US to “rebuild communication, rebuild trust, rebuild success.” He said he would try to resume economic cooperation.
“The US oil majors have a very successful business in Russia,” Dmitriev said in a brief interview on Tuesday before talks began, how the country can restructure business relations. I provided an example of that. “We believe that at some point they will return. Why did they give them these opportunities that Russia gave them to access Russia's natural resources?”
Large Western oil companies, including Exxon Mobil, joined many other companies three years ago amid rage over Putin's full-scale Ukrainian invasion.
Energy and economic ties were one of the topics of a call between Putin and Trump last week, according to Trump and the Kremlin.
Russian commentators expressed hope that talks with the Trump administration and the peace deal in Ukraine could pave the way for the United States to lift the harsh sanctions imposed by the Biden administration on Moscow.
Dmitriev appeared to want to engage with the Trump team by addressing the US president's interest in profits and natural resources.
He said he would present the US delegation with an estimate that American companies lost $300 billion by leaving Russia.
“We need to put all the facts on the table and then discuss them based on facts, not just on ideological doctrines,” Dmitriev said. “We saw President Trump focus on success.”
Tuesday's discussion is the first time it is known that a wide range of American and Russian officials met in person after Putin's invasion in early 2022.
The meeting is another step in Trump's bid to end the diplomatic isolation in Russia that former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. sought to enforce after the invasion.
“If there is a possibility of progress towards peace here, we will need to talk to Russians,” Rubio said on Sunday's CBS show, “Face the Nation.”
However, in Europe and Ukraine, news of planned consultations on Tuesday is confusing and concern. Rubio characterized the talks as preliminary, but there was widespread criticism in Europe that Trump's approach to Russia was not coordinated with US allies. And Ukrainian officials argued that they would refuse an agreement on their country, negotiated without involvement.
“Without us, we cannot recognize the agreement that has been made about us,” Ukrainian President Voldimia Zelensky said on Monday.
Zelensky is also in the Gulf region this week, with several countries hoping to use their relationship with Moscow, Kiev and the West to serve as mediators in the Ukrainian War. On Monday, Zelensky was in the United Arab Emirates, discussing the exchanges of prisoners and the return of Ukrainian children from Russia.
On Tuesday, Zelensky was scheduled to meet Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan in the Turkish capital of Ankara.
Ukrainian officials also said Zelensky will be in Saudi Arabia this week, but Ukraine has not been invited to talks between the US and Russia. Ushakov, a foreign policy advisor to the Kremlin, said there is no plan for a three-way meeting with Ukrainians.
“We've come here to negotiate with our American colleagues,” he said.
By hosting consultations, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, provided a great opportunity to cement his position as a global leader with influence beyond the Middle East.
In a statement from the Foreign Ministry, Saudi Arabia said it welcomed Russians and Americans “as part of the Kingdom's efforts to strengthen world security and peace.”
Like other countries in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia shunned allies in the Ukrainian war.
He sent humanitarian assistance to Ukraine while building close ties with Russia. When the Ukrainian Peace Conference, which excluded Russia, took place in Switzerland last June, Saudi Arabia and the neighboring United Arab Emirates refused to sign the final joint statement.
Two senior Saudi Arabian officials on Tuesday – Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Fahan. National Security Advisor Moosad Al Aivan was sitting at the table with American and Russian officials at the start of the meeting.
Andrew E. Kramer I contributed a report from Kyiv, Ukraine.
