(CLO) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that the US and Russia have agreed to restore normal operations of each other's diplomatic missions, after holding Ukraine peace talks without Kiev in Saudi Arabia.
The talks in Saudi Arabia are aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine after US President Donald Trump, who took office last month, ordered senior officials to begin negotiations.
Mr Rubio said the sides agreed that the first step would be to appoint teams of officials to “work very quickly to reestablish the functions of our respective missions”.
The two countries have expelled diplomats and restricted new appointments at each other's missions in a series of tit-for-tat measures over the past decade, leaving each country's embassies short of staff.
View of the talks between the US and Russian delegations in Saudi Arabia. Photo: X/Marco Rubio
“We need to have vibrant diplomatic missions that can function normally so that these channels can continue,” Mr. Rubio said, adding that he would not publicly negotiate the details of how to restore the missions.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov raised the issue of the activities of Russian missions in the United States with Mr. Rubio in a phone call on Saturday ahead of the talks in Riyadh.
Meanwhile, ahead of the four-and-a-half-hour Ukraine peace talks in the Saudi Arabian capital, Russia has laid out its demands, in particular stressing that it will not accept Ukraine's membership in the NATO alliance.
Later on Tuesday, Mr Trump said he was more confident after the talks and would likely meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin before the end of the month.
"I think I have the ability to end this war," Mr Trump told reporters in Palm Beach, Florida, dismissing Ukraine's concerns about being excluded from the meeting and saying Kiev should have joined the talks much sooner.
US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz told reporters in Riyadh that the war must end permanently and that this would involve negotiations over territory. "The reality is that there will be some discussions about territory and there will be discussions about security guarantees," he said.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Rubio said he left the initial talks believing that Russia was "ready to engage in a serious process" but that achieving peace would require concessions from all sides.
US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Mr Rubio later spoke with top diplomats from France, Germany, Italy, Britain and the EU to brief them on the talks.
Ukraine has said it will not accept any agreement imposed without its consent, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated that "no decisions can be made by the head of Ukraine".
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had postponed a visit to Saudi Arabia scheduled for Wednesday until next month. Kiev said talks on how to end the war should not take place behind Ukraine's back.
Hoang Hai (according to TASS, WH, Reuters)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/my-va-nga-khoi-phuc-cac-phai-bo-ngoai-giao-dam-phan-hoa-binh-ukraine-ma-khong-co-kiev-post335090.html
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