Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are leading the diplomatic talks, which are resisted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the governments of France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and Poland.
By Roman Lejtman
Special Envoy to Jerusalem, Israel
The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, They started this Tuesday in Riad informal conversations to achieve a truce in the war that dispute Ukraine and Russia for almost three years now.
The meeting has an open agenda, but There are four key issues which will be the focus of all diplomatic meetings between the White House and the Kremlin until an eventual agreement is reached:
1 Russia intends to annex Ukrainian territory which he took during the war.
2. Russia demands that Ukraine does not enter to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
3. Russia claims that Ukraine does not rebuild its Armed Forces to attempt to recover the territories that would have to be ceded after the armistice.
4. Russia wants agree to a ceasefire, and then that there are elections in Ukraine to determine with whom he will sign the end of hostilities. Putin does not recognize him democratic legitimacy to Volodymyr Zelensky: claims that his mandate has already expired.
No concrete results are expected today, it is just an exploratory meeting that ultimately It shows the political will of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to conclude a conflict that affection food security, complicated the energy market and allowed for China to advance its global plans.
The bilateral meeting in Saudi Arabia was a Trump's direct initiative, that without consultation with Zelensky and European Union (EU) called by phone to Putin
With this political gesture, the President of the United States broke the isolation that Western diplomacy had imposed on the Russian Federation, after the illegal invasion of Ukraine that executed that the February 24 2022.
In the face of Trump's decision, Emmanuel Macron contacted Trump and called for an urgent meeting with the heads of state of Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Denmark and the Netherlands, who they resist to the White House's geopolitical strategy.
The president of United States got engaged with Macron to include Europe and Ukraine in talks with Russia, but he did not make a single diplomatic gesture to add these parties to the diplomatic mediation conclave that begins today in Riyadh.
That promise for the future from Trump irritated even more to the European leaders who yesterday arrived urgently at the Elysee Palace in Paris.
“There is talk behind the backs of the Ukrainians "on the results of talks that have not taken place, to which Ukraine has not consented and to which it is not invited to the table," the German chancellor said. Olaf Schölz.
Zelensky He also seemed surprised and upset. over Washington's strategy to end the war in Ukraine. A week ago, the Ukrainian president spoke with Trump, who He assured him that he would participate at all stages of negotiations with Moscow.
However, Zelensky is not in Riyadh today: will only arrive in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia tomorrow.
“Ukraine believes that any negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine will be ineffective.“and we cannot recognize any agreement about us without us,” Zelensky said.
In talks with Russia, Rubio, Mike Waltz -Trump's National Security Advisor- and Steve Witkoff, who is the White House special envoy for the Middle East.
Witkoff is personal friend of the Republican leader, accumulated a lot of power and prestige for his negotiation of the truce in Gaza, and now the Oval Room He added him to the delegation negotiating with the Kremlin.
On the other side of the table they sit Sergey Lavrov -former Russian foreign minister- and Yuri Ushakov, who was ambassador to the United States and is a foreign policy adviser to Putin.
The President of the Russian Federation makes a personal bet with the opening of negotiations on Ukraine, and that explains why he sent your trusted advisors Lavrov and Ushakov.
It is not yet resolved whether the negotiations will extend throughout the week, assuming that on Wednesday Zelensky lands in Riyadh. It could happen that Lavrov and Ushakov leave at night Saudi Arabia heading to Moscow, and Rubio, Waltz and Witkoff stay a few more days to move forward with the President of Ukraine.
The conversations are open, and its script is written by four hands in the White House and the Kremlin.