The United States and Russia have agreed to restore the normal functioning of their diplomatic missions during talks in Saudi Arabia attended by senior officials. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it was an important first step toward ending the war in Ukraine after President Donald Trump ordered the start of negotiations last month.
Rubio said both countries would appoint teams of officials to quickly restore the functionality of their diplomatic missions. Over the past decade, the two countries have mutually expelled diplomats and limited the number of staff in missions, which has significantly reduced the effectiveness of embassies. Rubio said that this had severely affected operations in Moscow and that Russia was experiencing similar difficulties with its mission in Washington. In addition to reinstating diplomatic missions, the talks also agreed to establish a high-level team to support peace negotiations in Ukraine and assess opportunities for post-war economic cooperation. However, the fact that representatives of Ukraine and European countries were not invited to these talks led to criticism. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that they would not accept the results of such talks without his country’s participation. US President Donald Trump expressed optimism that an agreement would be reached, while some Ukrainian officials expressed surprise and skepticism over their exclusion. The talks reportedly did not address the US sanctions against Russia and more meetings are planned for the future.
