On Tuesday, Feb. 18, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov sat across the table from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Walz, and Special Envoy Ambassador Steve Witkoff for a 4.5-hour meeting in Riyadh, following up on the Feb. 12 phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump. The aims of the meeting were to take steps toward re-establishing the bilateral relationship between the two countries, begin the process of resolving the Ukraine conflict, and work to prepare a meeting between the U.S. and Russian Presidents.
Official readouts from both sides were quite positive, with the U.S. State Department release declaring, “President Trump wants to stop the killing; the United States wants peace and is using its strength in the world to bring countries together.” According to both reports, re-establishing normal diplomatic relations is a priority. Ambassadors will be appointed as soon as possible, and a consultation mechanism will be established to, according to the U.S. readout, “address irritants to our bilateral relationship.” Lavrov told the press after the meeting that there is an intention to lift restrictions on Russia’s diplomatic missions and seized property in the U.S.
