Russia, US Will Appoint Teams and Increase Diplomats to Advance Ukraine Talks: Rubio

U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (L), Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C), and national security adviser Mike Waltz (2nd R) attend a meeting with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud (R) and a Russian delegation at Riyadh's Diriyah Palace in Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 18, 2025. Evelyn Hockstein/AFP via Getty Images

The United States and Russia have agreed to form high-level teams to handle negotiations to end the Russia–Ukraine war, the U.S. State Department announced on Feb. 18.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House national security adviser Mike Waltz, and special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff met with a Russian delegation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday to discuss the war in Ukraine and other areas of tension in U.S.–Russia relations.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and presidential aide Yuri Ushakov represented the Russian side of the discussions.

“We’re going to appoint a high-level team from our end to help negotiate and work through the end of the conflict in Ukraine in a way that’s enduring and acceptable to all the parties engaged,” Rubio told reporters following the Tuesday meeting.

The Riyadh talks mark the latest efforts by the Trump administration to boost diplomatic dialogue with Russia as it pursues a peace settlement.

Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week and announced Russia was ready to move ahead with negotiations.

Along with appointing teams to advance the talks, Rubio said another key takeaway for the Russian and U.S. teams was the need to expand their diplomatic missions in each other’s countries, to better facilitate the discussions.

“For us to be able to continue to move down this road, we need to have diplomatic facilities that are operating and functioning normally,” he said.

In addition to its embassy in Moscow, the U.S. diplomatic mission to Russia has included a consulate general in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok and another consulate in the western city of Yekaterinburg.

The Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg consulates have both suspended their normal operations, citing “critically low staffing of the United States mission to Russia.”

In remarks shared with Russia’s state-run Tass news agency, Ushakov said the Riyadh meeting yielded a “very serious conversation on all issues.”

However, the Russian presidential aide was reluctant to say that the latest talks had significantly closed the gaps between the Russian and U.S. positions on negotiations.

Trump had said last week that he intends to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the near future. Ushakov said no date for such a meeting has been set and it’s unlikely that the two leaders will meet by next week.

European Peacekeeping

No Ukrainian representatives were present at the meeting in Riyadh, and while the Trump administration has had other recent contacts with the Ukrainian side, the meeting between the Russian and U.S. delegations appeared to frustrate Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy said his country wouldn’t accept any outcome from the talks, since his side wasn’t part of the discussions. The Ukrainian leader postponed his trip to Saudi Arabia, scheduled for Feb. 19.

During a press conference in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday, Trump was asked to respond to concerns about Ukraine not having a seat at the table at the Riyadh talks.

“Well, they’ve had a seat for three years, and a long time before that this could have been settled very easily,” Trump said.

Trump later said that, had he been in a position to handle the negotiations earlier on, he could have made a deal that avoided Ukraine losing much of the territory Russian forces have captured, and avoided much of the loss of life and widespread destruction that has taken place throughout the war.

French President Emmanuel Macron called an emergency meeting of European leaders in Paris on Monday amid concerns that the Trump administration would sideline Europe in the Russia–Ukraine peace process.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with Macron after the meeting and agreed to stay in contact as peace talks progress.

Zelenskyy has sought assurances that an eventual peace settlement with Russia will be backed with security guarantees from allies and partners.

“There is a shared vision that security guarantees must be reliable and strong,” Zelenskyy’s office said. “Any other solution, such as a fragile ceasefire, would be just another deception by Russia and a precondition for a new Russian war against Ukraine or other European countries.”

Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signaled opposition to deploying U.S. troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force. He said that troops from European and non-European countries should provide these peacekeepers under a mission that is not covered by NATO’s mutual defense provisions.

Zelenskyy has called for the creation of a multinational European military force.

After the Paris meeting on Monday, European leaders offered mixed responses on the concrete measures they will take to help protect Ukraine from future conflicts with Russia.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said it would be inappropriate to commit his country’s troops to peacekeeping efforts in Ukraine until a peace deal is ready.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk likewise said his country could continue providing military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine but added, “We do not plan to send Polish soldiers to the territory of Ukraine.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK is willing to consider deploying peacekeeping troops in Ukraine but that the United States must provide a security guarantee.

“Europe must play its role, and I’m prepared to consider committing British forces on the ground alongside others, if there is a lasting peace agreement,” Starmer said. “But there must be a U.S. backstop, because a U.S. security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again.”

Trump and Zelenskyy have been in talks about the United States continuing to provide assistance to Ukraine in exchange for access to the country’s rare earth minerals and other natural resources. After reviewing an initial proposal last week, Zelenskyy is holding out for a better deal.

“It’s not in our interest today,” the Ukrainian leader told reporters on Feb. 16.

Trump Admin Looks Beyond Ukraine

Tuesday’s talks between the Russian and U.S. delegations in Riyadh went beyond settling the Ukraine conflict. The U.S. delegation expressed hopes for improving ties between the two countries.

In a statement, the U.S. Department of State said one of the key points from the meeting was an agreement that both sides would support a new mechanism to address issues that are straining U.S.–Russian relations.

Rubio said both delegations are also interested in cooperation on geopolitical and economic matters that could result from an end to the conflict in Ukraine.

“Obviously we'd have to see that conflict come to a successful and enduring end in order for that to be possible,” Rubio said.

Last week, Trump raised the prospect of new trilateral discussions among the United States, Russia, and China in which the three powers would pursue mutual military spending cuts, including reductions in nuclear arms.

“At some point, when things settle down, I’m going to meet with China, and I’m going to meet with Russia, in particular those two, and I’m going to say, ‘There’s no reason for us to be spending almost a trillion dollars on military,'” Trump told reporters at the White House on Feb. 13.

The president said he would open with a pitch for each of the three countries to cut their military budgets in half.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Guy Birchall, Reuters, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.