In a clear departure from the Biden administration’s policy of isolating Russia, the US government under President Donald Trump is set to reverse the tides with preparations underway for a face-to-face meeting between Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, announced a potential Trump-Putin summit on Saturday, saying the Putin-Trump summit could involve broad talks on global issues, and it would not just be confined to the war in Ukraine.
“The question is about starting to move towards normalising relations between our countries, finding ways to resolve the most acute and potentially very, very dangerous situations, of which there are many, Ukraine among them,” he said.
He also acknowledged that the efforts to organise the meeting are still at an early stage, as he implied that making it happen will require “the most intensive preparatory work.
Ryabkov said that the Russian and US envoys can hold a meeting “within the next two weeks,” which would be aimed at paving the way for further talks between senior officials.
Earlier on Tuesday, officials from both the US and Russia agreed to start working toward ending the war in Ukraine and improving their diplomatic and economic ties following their meeting in Saudi Arabia.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that both sides were ready 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.
Notably, the meeting in Saudi Arabia to discuss the peace process in Ukraine saw no representation from Kyiv.
In response to Ukraine being overlooked in the talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country would not accept any outcome from the talks since Kyiv didn’t take part, and he postponed his trip to Saudi Arabia.
(With inputs from AP)
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