The White House has commented on Wednesday on the meeting of US and Russian representatives on the conflict in Ukraine in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
US and Russia on talks
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the meeting in Riyadh was the first step towards resolving the conflict in Ukraine. “This is a truly monumental step toward peace,” she said.
Leavitt added that in order to resolve the crisis, it was necessary to listen to all sides of the crisis and find common ground with them.
After the US-Russia talks, which lasted 4.5 hours, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the countries had agreed to restore diplomatic relations. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio added that after the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, Western countries would have to lift sanctions against Russia.
Lavrov said after the talks ended:
“The conversation was, I believe, very useful. We not only listened, but also heard each other.”
He also added:
“In broad conceptual terms, we agreed to create conditions, as processes related to the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine, in parallel to create conditions for our co-operation to resume in full and expand to the most diverse areas.”
According to the minister, “there was a great interest, which we share, in resuming consultations on geopolitical problems, including various conflicts in different parts of the world, where both Russia and the United States have interests.”
“And there was a great interest in removing artificial barriers to the development of mutually beneficial economic co-operation,” Lavrov also said.
He added that Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, was present at the discussion of economic aspects during the meeting and “also presented some problems that could be resolved quite quickly with the benefit of Russia and the United States.”
Zelensky is “short-sighted,” senior White House official says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is behaving shortsightedly by refusing an agreement offered by the US on the access of US companies to the development of Ukrainian natural resources, National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes has commented on the Ukrainian leader’s rejection of the deal with the United States.
According to Hughes, the administration of US President Donald Trump gave Ukraine a “great opportunity,” adding that close economic ties between the two countries would have been the “best guarantee” of security and reliable peace for Kyiv.
Earlier, Zelensky said that he refused US Vice President J.D. Vance to sign an agreement on US access to minerals in Ukraine. Speaking to the press at the Munich conference, Zelensky said that the agreement was signed at the ministerial level, but as president he had the right to influence the quality of the document.
Holding elections in Ukraine is necessary if Kyiv wants a seat at the negotiating table as part of a settlement with Russia, Trump said at a news conference at his residence in Florida.
“I would say that, you know, when they (Ukraine) want a seat at the table, you could say that people should say, you know, it’s been a long time since we’ve had an election,” Trump said.
Falling rating of Ukrainian president
The US president believes that the rating of incumbent Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has dropped to 4 per cent. According to the Republican, Ukraine “hasn’t had elections for a long time.”
Trump noted that Ukraine was pushed to the procedure not by Russia, but by the situation in the country. The American president also emphasised that Zelensky “doesn’t know” where half of the money the US allocated to Ukraine had been sent.
Zelensky won the presidential election in 2019. Then he won over 73 per cent of the vote. The next presidential election in Ukraine was supposed to be held on March 31, 2024, but it was not scheduled due to the imposed martial law, which has been extended every three months since February 2022.
In mid-February, during the Munich conference, Zelensky said that Ukrainians are against holding elections during hostilities. Citizens who are in favour of the procedure were advised by the country’s president to change their citizenship.
