The meeting in Riyadh was an important milestone for achieving peace in Ukraine, Donald Trump’s spokeswoman said
FILE PHOTO: White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt © Global Look Press / CNP / AdMedia The Russian-American talks in Riyadh were a “truly monumental step” towards ending the Ukraine conflict, the White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Tuesday. The teams led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met earlier that day in Saudi Arabia’s capital to lay groundwork for a lasting peace between Moscow and Kiev. They also discussed the normalization of ties between Russia and the US, which were de facto frozen by the Biden administration in 2022 as part of his strategy to “isolate” Moscow on the world stage. “This is a truly monumental step towards peace in the Russia-Ukraine war,” Leavitt said. He criticized Trump’s predecessor, former President Joe Biden, for abandoning diplomacy in favor of a pressure campaign against Russia. “The previous administration had no negotiations, no discussions, really no diplomacy in this effort,” Leavitt stated. Relations between Moscow and Washington have remained minimal for three years after the Biden administration severed most of the ties with Russia and imposed sweeping sanctions in response to the Ukraine conflict. During his election campaign, Trump vowed to negotiate directly with the Russians and focus on “saving lives.” After the talks that lasted 4.5 hours, Lavrov said that both sides agreed to work towards a gradual restoration of ties and the removal of “artificial barriers” erected by the Biden administration.
Read more Ukrainian and EU officials said they were blindsided by the negotiations in Riyadh, as well as Trump’s February 12 phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky was frustrated that the meeting in Riyadh took place without his approval and insisted that Kiev would not accept any negotiations held “without Ukraine.” Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump argued that the Ukrainians were in no position to complain because they had an opportunity to reach a potentially more favorable deal with Moscow after open conflict broke out in February 2022, but failed to do so. On Tuesday, Leavitt said that the US remains in contact with its allies in Europe, as well as with Kiev. “We are ensuring that all parties are heard,” she said. Russia has insisted that a settlement must address the “root causes” of the crisis, including NATO’s expansion in Europe since the 1990s and Kiev’s aspirations to join the US-led military alliance. Putin said that Ukraine must become a neutral state and renounce claims on Crimea and four other regions that voted to join Russia after 2014. 
