Saudi Arabia is hosting a historic summit today. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sat down to discuss the future of the Ukraine conflict. All eyes of Europe, excluded from peace talks, are on Riyadh today. The historic meeting lasted 4.5 hours. The US State Department announced that Rubio and Lavrov agreed to appoint high-level teams to begin working to end the war as soon as possible. The American minister stated, “If the conflict in Ukraine ends, extraordinary opportunities will arise for US-Russia relations.” The Russian minister also announced that the two countries will appoint ambassadors as soon as possible. Here are the details of this critical summit…Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh is hosting a historic summit today.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sat down to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
Rubio, who went to Israel the day before, discussed bilateral relations with his Russian counterpart and the war in Ukraine today in Saudi Arabia.
According to the Russian TASS news agency, the meeting lasted 4.5 hours. The Kremlin stated that the meeting went well.
The US State Department announced that Rubio and Lavrov agreed to appoint high-level teams to begin working to end the war as soon as possible. 
The spokesperson reported that Rubio and Lavrov agreed to establish a consultation mechanism to address “provocative elements” in US-Russia relations and collaborate in the future on mutual geopolitical interests, historic economic and investment opportunities arising from the end of the conflict in Ukraine. Rubio emphasized that everyone involved in the Ukrainian conflict must accept a solution that will end it, saying, “The goal is to bring a fair, lasting, and sustainable end to the conflict in Ukraine.”
The American minister stated that at some point, European intervention will be necessary. He added: “No one is being left out here. The end of the conflict in Ukraine should be acceptable for Ukraine, Europe, and Russia. The Russians are ready to engage in a serious process. The next steps include establishing live diplomatic missions between the US and Russia.”
Rubio expressed that he was convinced that Russia was willing to engage in a “serious process” to end the conflict in Ukraine. He added that if the conflict in Ukraine ends, extraordinary opportunities will arise for US-Russia relations. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, in a statement after the meeting, said, “The discussions were fruitful; we listened and heard each other. We agreed to appoint ambassadors as soon as possible. We agreed to remove the obstacles in front of the diplomatic missions. We agreed to establish a process for resolving the Ukraine dispute.”
Lavrov stated, “We also agreed to create the necessary conditions to fully restore our cooperation and there was high interest in removing obstacles to economic cooperation. We have shown bilateral determination to find a solution.” The Russian minister also stated that they informed the US delegation that NATO expansion is a direct threat to Russia.
Lavrov, describing today’s meeting as a great success, responded to journalists’ questions about Zelensky’s participation in Russian-US talks, saying, “There is no need to go into details; Putin has already commented on it.”
He also answered a question about the possibility of European countries sending troops to Ukraine by saying, “We told that the deployment of NATO forces, even under other flags, in Ukraine is unacceptable for Russia.” Excluded European leaders from the talks, gathered in Paris yesterday in response to this meeting, and shared their views on a possible peace in the Ukraine War.
US President Donald Trump had surprised NATO and European allies in Ukraine last week by talking to Putin on the phone without consulting them and announcing an initiation of a peace process.
Upon this, Trump’s representative for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, claimed that Ukraine and other European leaders had no place in peace talks.
Yesterday, US Secretary of State Rubio met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
They discussed issues in the Gaza Strip and the US plans. The suggestion of President Trump to deport Palestinians in Gaza to Arab countries and “take over” Gaza had drawn significant criticism from Arab countries.
Rubio embarked on a visit to the Middle East to hold talks after President Trump’s statement.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said, “The Secretary emphasized the importance of establishing an order that contributes to regional security in Gaza.” Bruce said that Rubio and Salman expressed their determination to continue the ceasefire signed between Israel and Hamas last month and discussed Syria, Lebanon, and the Red Sea issues.
Based on a statement made today by Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, to the Interfax news agency, Russia hopes to hear Moscow’s position on Ukraine-related talks in Saudi Arabia between the US.
Dmitriev, a former Goldman Sachs banker who was educated in the US, played a role in the initial contacts between Moscow and Washington during Trump’s first presidential term from 2016-2020.