How do I know? I read it on the internet. Before we get to the longer version, here’s the shorter one that confirms the basic posture of the two sides, as they discuss reshaping the world. Basically, Russia wants to go slowly, and Trump wants to do a deal quickly:
MenchOsint @MenchOsint
Russia and the United States have agreed to advance bilateral relations & respect each other's interests. Both Moscow and Washington are interested in this, says Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov
"The meeting between Putin and Trump is unlikely to take place next week, it is difficult to talk about specific dates, close work is needed" he emphasized.
Quote
MenchOsint @MenchOsint
The Russian & American delegation at the talks in Riyadh [the focus is on Sergey and Marco]
6:19 AM · Feb 18, 2025
Major points:
Rubio must think he’s died and gone to heaven. If Trump can pull this deal off Rubio goes down in history, too.
Big: US officially recognizes that Russia has interests, and that the US will respect those interests.
Nice start, but Putin won’t be easily satisfied—trust but verify, and Putin wants guarantees backed by concessions that won’t be easily walked back.
Trump wants the deal ASAP, which means major concessions—which is actually reasonable. Putin will be more than happy to go along with some arms control or other sweeteners to provide Trump with the domestic cover he wants—plus, it could be the start of further cooperation.
See? I toldja it was a success. Starting with no Ukraine and no EU.
Secretary Rubio issued a statement in the wake of the meeting, which most interestingly included an agreement for election to be held in Ukraine, which Zelensky certainly isn't going to like (and probably won't agree to), given also he just recently argued that martial law prevents this. According to what was agreed to based on Rubio's readout:
Two sides agree to broadly pursue three goals: allowing back staffing at their embassies in Washington and Moscow and to establish respective high-level teams to support Ukraine peace talks.
And three: Explore closer restored relations and economic cooperation between the US and Russia
Rubio stressed that any agreement must be "acceptable" to US, Russia, Ukraine and Europe.
The plan has three stages: a ceasefire, elections in Ukraine and signing a final agreement, according to Fox reporter Jacqui Heinrich on X
Lavrov has said: We have agreed that a mechanism for a settlement of the Ukraine conflict will be formed in the near future, and ambassadors will be appointed ASAP to lead these efforts.
Restoring something like normal diplomatic relations is important. The US is recognizing Russia as a normal country and, tacitly, admitting that the fault for all this lay in the past—starting with the Clintons. That may take a while to come out, but it will.
Closer economic relations? Another big one. Trump will be able to normalize economic relations with the world, without all the threats about collapsing the price of oil and all that.
The part about a ceasefire could be tricky. Obviously it can’t go forward without a final agreement already agreed upon—the bit about Ukrainian elections is just so that Russia can have a valid counter signatory to what is really a US - Russia agreement. The ceasefire will probably be just to facilitate elections to facilitate the final signing. But that means lots more work to get done—like, what about NATO, US missiles in Europe, and lots more.
Exciting. Ruling Class must be losing their collective mind, but DOGE has their backs against the wall.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said his country won't accept peacekeeping forces from Nato countries in Ukraine under any peace deal, following high-level talks with the US in Saudi Arabia. "Any appearance by armed forces under some other flag does not change anything. It is of course completely unacceptable," he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said his country won't accept peacekeeping forces from Nato countries in Ukraine under any peace deal, following high-level talks with the US in Saudi Arabia. "Any appearance by armed forces under some other flag does not change anything. It is of course completely unacceptable," he said.
Another important concession to Russia:
”This needs to be a permanent end to the war, and not a temporary end, as we’ve seen in the past,” Waltz told a press conference in Riyadh.