Key points
- Peace talks make headway
- Trump team to meet Russians, Ukrainians
- Saudi Arabia to host talks
MOSCOW: Russia said Saturday that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had spoken with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio by phone, agreeing to show will for “cooperation” on Ukraine and to work to restore dialogue.
The call came ahead of an expected summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin amid mounting concern from Ukraine and its European allies that the pair will strike a deal without them.
The call came days after the US president’s call to Putin ended almost three years of no contact between Moscow and Washington during the Ukraine conflict.
“On February 15 on the initiative of the American side a phone call was held between the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation S. Lavrov and Secretary of State of the USA M. Rubio,” said a Russian foreign ministry statement.
They had expressed a “mutual willingness for cooperation on topical international issues, including the settlement around Ukraine, the situation around Palestine and the whole of the Middle East, as well as other regional areas”, it added.
On February 15 on the initiative of the American side a phone call was held between the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation S. Lavrov and Secretary of State of the USA M Rubio.” – Russian foreign ministry statement
The call came a day after US Vice President JD Vance delivered a scathing speech criticising European nations at the Munich Security Conference.
Confirmed readiness
“S Lavrov and M Rubio confirmed their readiness to work towards restoring a mutually respectful inter-government dialogue in line with the tone set by the presidents,” Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
“They agreed on regular contacts, including for the preparation of a Russian-American summit meeting on a high level.”
Trump has said he will meet Putin in Saudi Arabia, without giving a date for the summit.
According to Moscow, Lavrov and Rubio pledged to “maintain a channel of communication to resolve the accumulated problems in US-Russian relations”.
Under Joe Biden, Washington hit Moscow with a barrage of economic sanctions for its Ukraine offensive.
