US, Russia hold 4.5-hour high-level talks, agree to push for ending Ukraine crisis – Global Times

US, Russia hold 4.5-hour high-level talks, agree to push for ending Ukraine crisis

China welcomes all peace efforts to resolve the Ukraine crisis: FM

High-level US and Russian delegates led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attend a meeting to discuss improving ties and negotiating an end to the Ukraine crisis at Riyadh’s Diriyah Palace on February 18, 2025. Photo: AFP

After a several-year pause in dialogue, high-level delegations from Russia and the US met on Tuesday in the Saudi capital Riyadh to discuss the prospects for resolving the conflict in Ukraine and ways to break the impasse in bilateral relations, which according to TASS, lasted about 4.5 hours. 

Russia was represented by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, and CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz, and special envoy for the Middle East Stephen Witkoff were participating in the negotiations. The talks were held in one of the royal family’s palaces – Al Diriyah in the Albasateen complex, TASS reported. 

Dmitriev, the Russian negotiator, told Reuters it was too early to talk of compromises following the talks with US officials, but that the two sides started listening to one another, treating each other with respect and as equals.

Russia’s chief foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov has said it “went well” and was “a serious conversation on all issues,” according to Interfax and Tass, via Reuters.

He also said that the two sides agreed for negotiators to talk about Ukraine, and briefly discussed the conditions needed for a Putin-Trump summit, although he noted it was unlikely to take place next week.

According to the US Department of State statement following the meeting, the US and Russia agreed to establish a consultation mechanism to “address irritants to our bilateral relationship with the objective of taking steps necessary to normalize the operation of our respective diplomatic missions.”  

The two sides also reached agreements including appointing 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, and laying the groundwork for future cooperation on matters of mutual geopolitical interest and historic economic and investment opportunities which will emerge from a successful end to the conflict in Ukraine, according to the US statement. 

When asked about what role China wants to play or can play in any peace agreement that solves the Ukraine crisis, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at Tuesday’s press conference that on any dispute and conflict in the world, China always advocates dialogue, consultation and political settlement. This is also true when it comes to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. 

China is not the creator of the Ukraine crisis nor a party to it. That said, we have not just sat by and watched the crisis unfold or profiteered from the crisis. Right after the Ukraine crisis broke out, China proposed to settle the crisis through dialogue and consultation, Guo said. 

China will continue to support all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the crisis, maintain communication with relevant parties and play a constructive role in promoting the political settlement of the crisis, according to Guo.  

“We are glad to see dialogue between the US and Russia, and we support the political and diplomatic resolution of the Ukraine crisis. But we are also well aware that achieving results through one single dialogue is very difficult,” said Li Haidong, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University.

Li explained that the Ukraine crisis is merely a symptom of the broader issue of European security. If the US and Russia only discuss a ceasefire without addressing the root cause of the conflict – NATO’s excessive dominance and expansion over Europe, the crisis could not be resolved, he told the Global Times. 

Sun Xiuwen, an associate professor at the Institute for Central Asian Studies at Lanzhou University, said Russia is unlikely to make significant compromises on core interests, particularly regarding limiting NATO expansion, ensuring a land corridor to the militarily occupied territories and the Crimean Peninsula, and pushing for Ukraine’s “neutrality.” 

While for the Trump administration, key considerations include claiming personal credit for resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict through negotiations and reducing investment in Ukraine to focus resources on addressing challenges in the Asia-Pacific, Sun told the Global Times.

Ukraine, Europe in dismay

No Ukrainian officials were present at the meeting. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country won’t accept any outcome from this week’s talks since Kiev isn’t taking part. European allies have also expressed concerns they are being sidelined, AP reported.

When asked to comment the meeting without the participation of Ukraine, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo said that China has always maintained that dialogue and negotiation are the only viable path to resolving the Ukraine crisis. “We welcome all efforts dedicated to achieving peace, including the consensus on peace talks reached between the US and Russia.” 

“At the same time, we look forward to the timely participation of all relevant parties and stakeholders in the peace negotiation process,” Guo noted. 

Signs of tension have emerged between Ukraine and the White House in recent days following the following the dramatic turnaround of Trump’s attitude toward Russia. 

Ukrainian drones attacked the Kropotkinskaya oil pumping station on Monday, which primarily pumps oil for American and European companies through Kazakhstan, Sputnik News reported. “Undoubtedly, this was a deliberate and calculated response by Zelensky to Trump’s stance,” the report said. 

The move came after Zelensky told his aides to reject the Trump administration’s proposal that would grant the US 50 percent of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals, NBC News reported on Monday.

A few days before the Riyadh meeting, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Kiev that a return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders was “unrealistic” and the Trump administration does not see NATO membership for Kiev as part of a solution to the conflict with Russia, Reuters reported.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the issue of Ukraine’s accession to the European Union was its sovereign right. Peskov added, though, that Russia’s position was different when it comes to Ukraine joining military alliances, Reuters reported.

Despite that the stances of the US and Russia seem to be converging on the dealing of Ukraine crisis, if Ukraine and Europe do not accept it, such a consensus will not be able to materialize, Li said. He added that the US approach, which sacrifices the interests of other parties to fulfill its own desire, cannot lead to a lasting and stable solution.

However, Cui Heng, a scholar from the Shanghai-based China National Institute for SCO International Exchange and Judicial Cooperation, said that it is also possible that the US may reach an agreement with Russia and then pressurize Europe and Ukraine, who have little bargaining chips. The EU’s lack of sufficient diplomatic autonomy and its disunity have left it in a weak position where it must now face the consequences, Cui said.

French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X while the US-Russia meeting convenes that he has just spoken with Trump and then with Zelensky. He said working together with all Europeans, Americans, and Ukrainians is the key to resolving the conflict.

He noted that Europeans must invest better, more, and together in their security and defense. “To this end, Europeans want to accelerate the implementation of their own agenda for sovereignty, security, and competitiveness.”

Following Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also posted on X that “Financially and militarily… we will step up.” She added that “We want to partner with the US to deliver a just and lasting peace for Ukraine. Now is a critical moment.”

A hasty summit was held in Paris on Monday among European leaders, but has ended with little unity on crucial points, including the idea of sending a European peacekeeping force to the country, the Guardian reported.

Breaking the ice 

Apart from peace deal talks, Peskov said the Riyadh meeting would focus on “restoring the whole complex of US-Russian relations.” Lavrov on Monday said the time had come for the two countries to end what he called an “absolutely abnormal period” of estrangement, according to the Washington Post.

The Russian and US delegations in Riyadh are addressing a variety of accumulated problematic issues, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a briefing, TASS reported on Tuesday. 

“They have been amassing not just over the three years when we had no contacts at all because of [former US president Joe] Biden’s administration, but over all previous years,” the diplomat said. “This is why the work began.”

The potential directions for US-Russia rapprochement may include two aspects: first, strategic coordination such as extending the New START Treaty or restarting the negotiations, and coordinating on regional issues such as Syria and Afghanistan; second, interest exchange between two sides, for example, the US partially lifts economic sanctions on Russia while Russia concedes global LNG market share to the US, Sun said. 

Cui, however, said this round of negotiation is unlikely to yield immediate breakthroughs, as both sides need time to reengage after years of no contact. It only serves as a preliminary step, Cui told the Global Times.

“It is one thing for the US and Russia to express a willingness to break the ice… however, over more than 30 years of post-Cold War history has shown us clearly that improving US-Russia relations is fraught with difficulties,” echoed Li.