The U.S. and Russia on Tuesday took steps to improve diplomatic ties after Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with top officials from Moscow in a move to find an end to the war in Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters following the 4.5-hour meeting held in Saudi Arabia between Rubio and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, the secretary of state said the first move would be in reestablishing the “functionality of our respective missions in Washington and in Moscow.”
“For us to be able to continue to move down this road, we need to have diplomatic facilities that are operating and functioning normally,” Rubio said.
Special envoy Keith Kellogg participates in the panel discussion on Ukraine at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 15, 2025, in Germany. (Johannes Simon/Getty Images)
“But President Trump is in a position – that he campaigned on – to initiate a process that could bring about an end to this conflict, and from that could emerge some very positive things for the United States, for Europe, for Ukraine, for the world,” the secretary said.
Rubio confirmed the final agreement to come out of the lengthy meeting on Tuesday was that the five men involved in the meeting – which included Rubio and Lavrov, as well as Trump’s national security advisor, Michael Waltz, special Mideast envoy Steven Witkoff and Putin’s foreign affairs advisor, Yuri Ushakov – would remain “engaged” to ensure negotiations continue to progress in a “productive way.”
Neither the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy nor the EU immediately responded to Fox News Digital’s questions regarding their reactions to the day’s meeting.
Zelenskyy, who was supposed to arrive in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, canceled his trip on Tuesday, which according to a Reuters report, was a move to counter any “legitimacy” of the U.S.-Russia talks that were held without a Ukrainian delegation.
Kellogg’s team confirmed for Fox News Digital that he is set to meet with Zelenskyy this week during his trip to Kyiv.
Zelenskyy, like some EU leaders, has said he will not accept any ceasefire negotiations that are not made through coordinated efforts with Kyiv.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy looks at a map during his visit to the 110th mechanised brigade in Avdiivka, the site of fierce battles with the Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Dec. 29, 2023. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
“Ukraine and Europe – in the broad sense, including the European Union, Turkey and the United Kingdom – must be involved in discussions and the development of necessary security guarantees together with the United States, as these decisions shape the future of our part of the world,” he said in an address following a meeting with Turkish President Reccep Erdoğan on Tuesday.
Reports on Tuesday also indicated that European leaders were looking to reconvene at a “second emergency Ukraine summit” to discuss Ukraine and Europe’s security.
The State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s questions.
