The US and Russia held talks for the first time since the war began. What is known about the meeting in Riyadh?

The first talks between the United States and Russia since the war in Ukraine began have been held in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. According to Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov, the nearly five-hour talks were "not bad": the delegations "had a serious conversation on all issues." What is known about the talks?

Russian and US delegations

For the first time since the start of the war in Ukraine, senior Russian and US officials held formal talks in Saudi Arabia. According to official statements from the parties, one of the main outcomes of the meeting was an agreement to fully restore diplomatic missions.

The meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Presidential Assistant for International Affairs Yuri Ushakov from the Russian side. The American side was represented by US Secretary of State (Secretary of State) Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Walz, and Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff.

Also present in Riyadh is Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, who participated in negotiations for the release of American Mark Vogel, but he was not at the negotiating table at the Diriyah Palace.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the day before that the meeting would be "devoted primarily to restoring the entire complex of Russian-American relations, as well as preparing for possible negotiations on resolving the Ukrainian issue and organizing a meeting between the two presidents."

Representatives from Kiev were not invited to the meeting. As noted in Washington, negotiations with Ukraine will take place at a different stage. According to sources from the Reuters agency, the US President's special representative for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, has left for Kiev.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine will not recognize any agreement reached between Russia and the United States in Saudi Arabia without the participation of representatives from Kiev.

Zelensky himself was due to arrive in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, February 19. The Ukrainian president said the visit was planned well in advance as part of his Middle East tour (he visited the United Arab Emirates on Monday) and coincided with the meeting of the Americans and Russians in Riyadh.

However, during a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan , Zelensky said he had postponed his visit to Saudi Arabia until March 10.

"The first step on a difficult path"

According to Putin aide Yuri Ushakov, the nearly five-hour talks were "not bad": the delegations "had serious discussions on all issues."

Ushakov also said that "separate groups" of US and Russian negotiators would begin contacts on Ukraine "in due course," but did not say exactly when. The exact date of the meeting between Putin and Trump is also unknown, but preparations for it were discussed at the meeting of the delegations, Ushakov said.

Bloomberg added the word "unlikely" when commenting on his report that the meeting could take place next week.

The State Department, in turn, announced that Lavrov and Rubio agreed to "establish a consultation mechanism to address the disturbing factors in our bilateral relations" and to appoint high-level groups to begin work on resolving the Ukraine issue.

They also agreed on further cooperation in the economic and investment sectors, as well as on issues of common geopolitical interest, said State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce.

Rubio himself said at the end of the talks that working to end the conflict in Ukraine would require "difficult and intense diplomacy behind closed doors," but that the terms of the final agreement must be "acceptable" to all parties, including Ukraine, Russia, and "partners in Europe."

Steve Witkoff clarified that the Europeans will have to come to the negotiating table "at some point" for imposing sanctions on Russia.

US President Donald Trump's national security adviser, Mike Walz, said in a statement that Trump wants the conflict in Ukraine to end permanently, not "as we've seen before," and that he is determined to "move very quickly" to achieve this.

"Today is the first step on a long and difficult, but important, path," said the US Secretary of State.

Rubio also said in an interview with the Associated Press that the United States and Russia have agreed to restore the previous number of staff at the embassies in Washington and Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was the last to comment on the results of the talks. "First and foremost," Lavrov said, "the parties agreed to resume the normal activities of diplomatic missions: to appoint ambassadors as soon as possible, as well as to "remove the obstacles that have been hindering diplomatic missions for many years, making their work more difficult."

It is worth noting that the largest number of Russian diplomats were expelled from the United States, most often during Trump's first term in office. The largest reduction in the number of diplomatic personnel was initiated by Putin - in 2017, Moscow reduced the number of American diplomats and employees of diplomatic institutions in Russia by 755 people, and by 455. Vladimir Putin said at the time that this would be "sensitive" for Washington.

Lavrov also confirmed that the parties have agreed to start work on the Ukraine deal. "As soon as we learn that the US has been appointed as a representative [in this process], we will immediately identify our 'participant,'" he clarified.

In addition, Lavrov noted that the delegations agreed to "create conditions for the full restoration and expansion of our cooperation in broad directions," including by holding consultations on conflicts in various regions of the world, as well as "removing artificial obstacles to mutually beneficial economic cooperation."

Lavrov told reporters that after the meeting, the American side began to better understand Moscow's position.

Meanwhile, Fox News, citing "multiple diplomatic sources," is reporting that Russia and the United States are discussing a plan to end the war in Ukraine that would include three stages: a ceasefire, holding elections in Ukraine, and then signing a peace treaty.

Russia and the United States see the elections in Ukraine as "key to the success of the reconciliation process," sources told Fox News.

"Putin assesses the probability of a puppet president being elected as very high, and also expresses confidence that any candidate other than the current president of Ukraine will be more flexible and ready for negotiations and concessions," one of the TV channel's sources said.