Following their meeting with a high-level Russian delegation in Saudi Arabia, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said top on the agenda would be restoring U.S. and Russian diplomatic missions in Washington and Moscow, which have been reduced to skeleton staffs due to reciprocal cuts over the course of the last decade.
The secretary said both the U.S. and Russia would “appoint a high-level team to negotiate and work through the end of the conflict in Ukraine in a way that’s enduring an acceptable to all parties engaged.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, second left, meets with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Saudi National Security Advisor Mosaad bin Mohammad Al-Aiban, U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, at Diriyah Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 17, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein/Pool via AP
Rubio remained vague when asked about what concessions they expect Russia to make, and if sanctions on Russia should or would be lifted.
“Again, we’re not going to pre-negotiate nor an end to this conflict. These are the kinds of things that have to happen through hard and difficult diplomacy in closed rooms over a period of time,” Rubio said.
Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East, also described the meeting as “positive, upbeat, constructive,” and “solution-based.”
– ABC News’ Shannon Kingston
