The United States and Russia have negotiated face to face for the first time since Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, almost three years ago. The delegations headed by the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and the Russian Foreign Minister, Serguéi Lavrov, have been found on Tuesday in Riad to talk about Ukraine and the future world order that prepare without the presence of two key parts in the Process, kyiv and the European Union. At the end, they have agreed to “sit the basis for future cooperation” between the two countries, a process that they expect to suppose “a successful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine,” according to a statement released by the State Department. With somewhat less enthusiasm, Kremlin’s foreign policy advisor, Yuri Ushakov, said: “It is still difficult to talk about an approach between the positions of Moscow and Washington”, although the more than five hours of meeting held, in his opinion , “They have not gone wrong.”
Ushakov has declared that both delegations “have agreed to take into account the interests of the other.” According to the Russian part, it has been a preliminary contact and the negotiating teams of Washington and Moscow will address the Ukraine War “in due time.”
The US State Department has published a statement in which its spokesman Tammy Bruce reveals that the two nuclear powers will create a new consultation mechanism to address “irritating problems” in their bilateral relations and will advance towards “normalization” of their respective missions diplomatic, largely reduced by diplomat expulsions these years.
The American agency Bloomberg has published that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin could meet next week. Contacts at different levels have extended for months and some US media say that both leaders were previously called, but the official negotiation has begun on Tuesday after 10 in the morning (Spanish peninsular time) under the watchful eye of the Minister of Saudi exterior, Faisal Bin Farhan to the Saud. Trump promised in 2017 that he would sanction his regime for him, a figure that acquired relevance within the thousands of political victims in Saudi Arabia, but eight years later Riad has not only been punished, but has reinforced his influence on the fragmented community International and in the West with.
The negotiation in Riad has been accompanied by a multiplication of Russian messages that affect the exclusion to which they submit to Europe in this process. Russian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alexánder Glushkó, has ruled out from Moscow the presence of the European Union in the next round of negotiations with the United States and has strongly rejected the proposal of a peace mission in Ukraine, one of the elements that The leaders of the great European countries have so far outlined, although with division with respect to whether to display it or not. “The Russian Federation is against the European Peace Forces in Ukraine; This would be an escalation, ”said the diplomat, who claims not to see any sign of rapprochement between Russia and Europe and has demanded the block that does not supply kyiv weapons.
In Moscow they do not hide their euphoria for negotiations. “Russia takes note of the nervous reaction of the West before hysteria that are causing the Russian-American contacts,” said the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, María Zajárova, while Riad’s conversations were ongoing.
The optimism shown in public by the authorities and Russian propaganda contrast with Trump’s alleged intentions about Ukraine. Moscow thinks that kyiv is an inalienable part of what he calls russki me – The Russian world, a space beyond its borders that the Kremlin believes his, directly or indirectly – but the US president wishes that Ukraine gives him the control of his rare earth, hydrocarbons, ports and other infrastructure to charge the support delivered delivered These years. According to the newspaper, Trump has demanded that the Government of Volodimir Zelenski half a billion dollars, a figure that would be greater compared to the repairs required to Germany after World War I.
The person in charge of the economic part of the delegation sent by the Kremlin, the director of the Russian Sovereign Fund, Kiril Dmiteriev, has shown the absolute predisposition of his regime to return to do business with Washington and collaborate in his expansion in new strategic areas of the planet . “Russia and the United States need to advance in joint projects, including the Arctic,” said the high position before the conversations began.
The Arctic will be one of the next great geostrategic battles among the great powers. The thaw caused by climate change is opening new routes to commerce through the polar circle that are much more direct and economic than the current ones, and the US president, Donald Trump, announced after his investiture that his plans go through annexation Greenland to have a foot in the area.
The statement of the department directed by Rubio indicates that Washington has collected the Moscow glove. Among the objectives addressed on Tuesday, both parties have agreed to “sit the basis for future cooperation in matters of mutual geopolitical interest and historical investment opportunities that will arise from a successful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine”, as announced by the US State Department .
“The joint projects will cause Russian and American economies to be more successful,” Dmitriev told Russian news agencies. Some media close to the Kremlin (both public and other related) have disseminated this Tuesday, without any confirmation, that several Western companies, such as Coca-Cola or Zara, consider reopening their businesses in Russia.
