Senior U.S. officials and Russian officials held the widest negotiations in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday between at least three years as President Trump pushes to end the war in Ukraine and the Kremlin seeks warm ties to Washington.
Russian officials said they would “normalize” with the United States ahead of talks in Riyadh, even believing that major U.S. oil companies could return to Russia.
Ukraine and Europe are watching deep worries from a distance over fears that Trump might try to make a peace deal against Ukraine, which is good for Russia.
The meeting briefly recessed for noon prayers before the recovery after Mr. Trump's long call with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin lasted less than a week.
Mr. Trump later said the two leaders spoke of the “great interests” of the United States and Russia that one day would work together, and they agreed to “start negotiations immediately” to end the war in Ukraine.
The U.S. delegation is led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz; Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy and Mr. Trump’s long-time friend Steve Witkoff.
The delegation met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov at the Dyria Palace in Riyadh on Tuesday. and Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy adviser. Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian sovereign wealth fund, is expected to attend the talks later that day.
Mr Ushakov told reporters after landing in Riyadh that the purpose of the negotiations was to “start to really normalize our relationship with Washington”.
Mr Dmitriev, who teamed up with Witkoff, announced his release at a US school teacher who was imprisoned in Russia last week, said he would seek to restart economic cooperation with the United States to “rebuild communications” , rebuild the trust and rebuild successfully”.
“The U.S. oil professional business has achieved a very successful business in Russia,” Mr. Dmitryev said in a brief interview before the negotiations began. “We believe that at some point they will come back because why do they give up on Russia.” Give them these opportunities to obtain Russian natural resources?”
Leading Occupy Oil, including Exxon Mobil, joined many other businesses three years ago because of anger at Mr. Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Mr. Trump and the Kremlin said last week's call between Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump, energy and economic ties were the themes of the call.
Russian commentators expressed hope to hold talks with the Trump administration, and Ukraine's peace agreement could pave the way for the U.S. to lift the severe sanctions imposed by the Biden administration on Moscow.
Mr. Dmitryev appears to want to interact with the Trump team by addressing the U.S. President’s interest in profits and natural resources.
He said he would make an estimate to the U.S. delegation that showed that U.S. companies lost $300 billion in losses due to leaving Russia.
“We need to put all the facts on the table and then discuss them based on the facts, not just ideological dogmas,” Dmitryev said. “We see President Trump focus on success.”
Tuesday's discussion was the first time Mr Putin's invasion in early 2022, and large delegations of senior U.S. and Russian officials have been known to meet in person.
The meeting is another step for Mr. Trump to end Russia's diplomatic quarantine, former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
“If it is possible to make peace here, we will need to talk to the Russians,” Rubio said on Sunday's CBS show “Facing the Country.”
But in Europe and Ukraine, news of the planned talks on Tuesday is confusing and concerned. Although Mr Rubio described the negotiations as preliminary, widespread criticism of Mr Trump's attitude towards Russia did not coordinate with the United States' allies. Ukrainian officials insist that they will refuse any agreements that are not involved in negotiations on their own countries.
“Without us, we will not be able to recognize any agreement about us,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday.
Mr. Zelensky also has been in the Gulf this week, where several countries are trying to capitalize on their relations with Moscow, Kiev and the West to serve as mediators in the Ukrainian war. On Monday, Mr. Zelensky was in the United Arab Emirates, discussing prisoner exchanges and the return of Ukrainian children from Russia.
Mr Zelensky will meet with Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey in Ankara, the capital of Türkiye.
Ukrainian officials also said Mr. Zelensky will be in Saudi Arabia this week, but Ukraine has not been invited to talks with the United States and Russia. Mr Ushakov, the Kremlin foreign policy adviser, said there was no plan to hold a three-way meeting with the Ukrainians.
“We came here to negotiate with our American colleagues,” he said.
For the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who chaired the talks, provided an important opportunity for negotiations to consolidate his position as a global leader, with an influence beyond the reach of the world The Middle East.
The Saudis said in a statement from the Foreign Ministry that they welcome Russia and Americans “as part of the Kingdom’s efforts to strengthen world security and peace.”
Like other countries in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia avoided the Ukrainian war side.
It has provided humanitarian assistance to Ukraine while establishing close ties with Russia. Last June, the Ukrainian peace conference was held in Switzerland, excluding Russia, Saudi Arabia and the neighboring United Arab Emirates, and refused to sign the final joint statement.
Senior Saudi officials – Foreign Secretary Prince Faisal bin Fahan; National Security Adviser Musaed Al-Aiban sat at the table with U.S. and Russian officials at the beginning of the meeting on Tuesday.
Andrew E. Kramer Reports in Kiev, Ukraine contributed.
