Preparations are underway for a face-to-face meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia's deputy foreign minister said Saturday.
It marked a clear departure from over its war in Ukraine.
Speaking to Russian state media, Sergei Ryabkov said a possible Putin-Trump summit could involve broad talks on global issues, not just the .
"The question is about starting to move toward normalizing 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.
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He said efforts to organize such a meeting are at an early stage, and it will require "the most intensive preparatory work."
Ryabkov added that U.S. and Russian envoys could meet within the next two weeks to pave the way for further talks among senior officials.
Ā Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, meets with U.S. President Donald Trump on July 7, 2017, at a G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany.
Russian and U.S. representatives meetingĀ TuesdayĀ in Saudi Arabia in Ukraine and improving their diplomatic and economic ties, an extraordinary about-face in U.S. foreign policy under Trump.
Senior U.S. officials suggested Ukraine will have to give up its goals of joining NATO and retaining the 20% of its territory seized by Russia.Ā
After the meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told The Associated Press the two sides agreed broadly to pursue three goals: to restore staffing at their respective embassies; 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 U.S. official, marked the beginning of a conversation, and more work needs to be done. Lavrov hailed the meeting as "very useful."
Washington has called on United Nations members to support its resolution on the war in Ukraine, despite criticism over its controversial language. Diplomatic sources reveal that the resolution omits references to Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia and focuses instead on urging a swift end to the conflict without addressing Kyiv's territorial integrity. Meanwhile, the White House touted progress toward an agreement that would grant the U.S. access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals, aiming to strengthen the long-term relationship between Washington and Kyiv. However, President Trump's rhetoric suggested a different stance, raising questions about the broader implications of the agreement. France24 International Affairs Editor Douglas Herbert joins us.
No Ukrainian officials were present at the Saudi meeting, which came as their beleaguered country is slowly but against more numerous Russian troops, nearly three years after Moscow launched an all-out invasion of its smaller neighbor.
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 own trip to Saudi Arabia last Wednesday. European allies also that they are being sidelined.
Meanwhile, the White House and Ukraine made significant progress toward reaching an agreement that would provide the U.S. with access to and tighten the long-term relationship between Kyiv and Washington, according to a person familiar with the ongoing negotiations who was not authorized to comment publicly.
The progress in talks came after Zelenskyy said he balked at signing off on the deal. He and Trump traded sharp rhetoric this past week about their differences on the matter.
Friday to walk back his earlier comments that , but insisted Zelenskyy and former U.S. President Joe Biden should have done more to come to terms with Putin.
"Russia attacked, but they shouldn't have let him attack," he said during a radio interview with Brian Kilmeade of Fox News, referring to the Russian leader.
Russia's army crossed the border on Feb. 24, 2022, in an invasion that Putin sought to justify by falsely saying it was needed to protect Russian-speaking civilians in eastern Ukraine and prevent the country from joining NATO.
Later Friday, at the Oval Office, Trump told reporters that the war "doesn't affect the United States very much. It's on the other side of the ocean. It does affect Europe."
President Donald Trump speaks Saturday at the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Md.
On Saturday, Trump acknowledged Russia invaded Ukraine. "Russia was never going to go in. And they went in because of a lot of reasons, and so many people are dead," he said during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in suburban Washington.
He noted he's "dealing with" Putin and Zelenskyy.
"I think that thing is going to end," Trump said of the war. "It's got to end."
Thousands of protesters have marched on the Russian embassy in London as they called on the international community not to ābetray Ukraineā. A coalition of Ukrainian community and UK-based labour organisations attended the rally on Saturday calling for Russiaās troops to withdraw, ahead of the third anniversary of Moscowās full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The march comes amid fears Ukraine is being frozen out of peace talks between Moscow and US President Donald Trump.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor OrbƔn, whose position on Ukraine differed sharply from the European mainstream, appeared to echo some of the Trump administration's recent rhetoric Saturday. He as a "buffer zone" between Russia and NATO and implied Budapest might block Kyiv's efforts to join the EU.
Thousands of people waving Ukrainian flags marched to the Russian Embassy in London on Saturday, demanding Ukraine be given more support and a place at the table in talks to end the war.
Protesters chanted "Trump you're no friend, you're a traitor to Ukraine." Organizers called for the withdrawal of Russian troops and increased military aid to Kyiv.
People take part in a protest Saturday outside the Russian Embassy in central London to mark the upcoming three-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is due to visit Washington this coming week for talks focused on Ukraine. He stressed that no decisions about the country's future can be made without Kyiv's involvement.
Starmer spoke to Zelenskyy on Saturday and reiterated "the U.K.'s ironclad support for Ukraine and commitment to securing a just and enduring peace to bring an end to Russia's illegal war," the prime minister's office said.
Ukraine's EU allies also seemed to rally around it, as the country's foreign minister on Friday and Saturday held calls that he said aimed to coordinate diplomatic efforts at a time of intense uncertainty over Washington's position.
