Russia and US agree to work towards ending Ukraine war

Russia and the US agreed on Tuesday to start working towards ending the war in Ukraine and improving their diplomatic and economic ties, the two countries’ top diplomats said.

In an interview with The Associated Press after the meeting, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said the two sides agreed broadly to pursue three goals: to restore staffing at their respective embassies in Washington and Moscow, to create a high-level team to support Ukraine peace talks and to explore closer relations and economic cooperation.

He stressed, however, that the talks — which were attended by his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and other senior Russian and US officials — marked the beginning of a conversation, and more work needs to be done.

Mr Lavrov echoed Mr Rubio’s remarks and told reporters that “the conversation was very useful”.

“We not only listened, but also heard each other,” he said.

Mr Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Waltz, and special Mideast envoy Steven Witkoff joined Mr Rubio at the table, along with Mr Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov.

No Ukrainian officials were present at the meeting, which came as the beleaguered country is slowly but steadily losing ground against more numerous Russian troops in a grinding war that began nearly three years ago.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country would not accept any outcome from the talks since Kyiv did not take part, and he postponed his own trip to the kingdom scheduled for Wednesday.

European allies have also expressed concerns that they are being sidelined.

Mr Trump showed little patience for Ukraine’s objections to being excluded from the talks.

He said repeatedly that Ukraine’s leaders never should have allowed the war to begin, suggesting the country should have been willing to make concessions to Russia before the 2022 invasion.

“Today I heard, ‘Oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you been there for three years. You should have ended it three years” ago, Mr Trump said during a news conference at his Florida residence.

“You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.”

Ties between Russia and the US have fallen to their lowest level in decades in recent years — a rift that has been widening ever since Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and only worsened after Moscow’s full-scale invasion.

The US, along with European nations, imposed a raft of sanctions on Russia in an effort to damage its economy. And embassies in Washington and Moscow have been hit hard by expulsions of large numbers of diplomats, as well as other restrictions.

Mr Rubio said on Tuesday that ending the war in Ukraine could “unlock the door” for “incredible opportunities” to partner with the Russians on issues of common interest “that hopefully will be good for the world and also improve our relations in the long term”.

His comments were further evidence of the remarkable US reversal on Russia after years in which Mr Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, led international efforts to isolate Moscow.

Tuesday’s meeting was meant to pave the way for a summit between Mr Trump and Mr Putin. After the talks ended, Mr Ushakov and Mr Waltz said no date has been set yet for that summit.

Mr Ushakov told Russian television that a meeting was “unlikely” to take place next week, while Mr Waltz said he thought it could be arranged in the coming weeks.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr Lavrov mentioned the same three goals as Mr Rubio and said that Washington and Moscow agreed to appoint representatives to carry out “regular consultations” on Ukraine.

“I have reason to believe that the American side has started to better understand our position” the Russian foreign minister said.

The meeting marked the most extensive contact between the two countries since Moscow’s February 24, 2022 invasion. Mr Lavrov and then-US secretary of state Antony Blinken talked briefly on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in India nearly two years ago, but tensions remained high.

The recent US diplomatic blitz on the war has sent Ukraine and key allies scrambling to ensure a seat at the table amid concerns that Washington and Moscow could press ahead with a deal that will not be favourable to them.

Kyiv’s absence at Tuesday’s talks rankled many Ukrainians, and France called an emergency meeting of European Union countries and the UK on Monday to discuss the war. Kyiv’s participation in such talks was a bedrock of US policy under Mr Biden.

US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said the talks were aimed at determining how serious the Russians are about achieving peace and whether detailed negotiations can start.

Mr Rubio said on Tuesday that there would be “engagement and consultation with Ukraine, with our partners in Europe and others”.

He added: “But ultimately, the Russian side will be indispensable to this effort.”

Mr Rubio also said ending the conflict would require concessions from all sides and that Washington “is not going to predetermine” what those concessions would be.

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that Nato membership for Ukraine was unrealistic and suggested Kyiv should abandon hopes of winning all its territory back from Russia — two key items on Mr Putin’s wish list.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday said he spoke by phone to Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky following Monday’s European meeting.

“We seek a strong and lasting peace in Ukraine,” Mr Macron wrote on social media platform X.

“To achieve this, Russia must end its aggression, and this must be accompanied by strong and credible security guarantees for the Ukrainians,” he said and vowed to “work on this together with all Europeans, Americans and Ukrainians”.