- A Tuesday preliminary meeting of high-ranking U.S. and Russian officials in Riyadh on the Ukraine war led to an agreement of four principles and is the first meeting of senior officials from both countries since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and high-ranking Trump administration officials met with Russian counterparts Tuesday in a preliminary meeting that could have a broad impact on business despite controversy over Ukraine reportedly being excluded.
It was the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 that such high-ranking officials had met in person, the New York Times reported. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky was notably not invited to the negotiations, which took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the talks were reportedly not coordinated with U.S. allies in Europe.
Still, U.S. and Russian officials were able to make headway and agree on four principles, Rubio said. These principles are:
- To reestablish the functionality of the countries’ respective embassies in Moscow and Washington, D.C.
- Appoint a specific team on the U.S. side dedicated to negotiating an “enduring and acceptable” end of the Ukraine war.
- To begin discussing geopolitical and economic cooperation resulting from an "successful and enduring end" to the conflict.
- The five people present at the meeting will continue to “remain engaged in the process to make sure that it’s moving along in a productive way,” said Rubio. The five people included on the U.S. side are Rubio, as well as Trump’s national security advisor Michael Waltz and Middle East envoy and longtime Trump ally Steve Witkoff. The Russian officials included Russia foreign minister Sergey V. Lavrov and presidential advisor Yuri Ushakov. Also present was investment banker and head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund Kirill Dmitriev.
The meeting Tuesday came after President Trump spoke with Russian president Vladimir Putin last week on energy and economic ties that Trump called “highly productive.” Rubio added that Tuesday’s talks were a follow-up to Trump’s conversation with Putin last week.
“The goal of today’s meeting was to follow up on the phone call the president had a week ago and begin to establish those lines of communication,” he said
The business world reacted quickly to news of the Tuesday meeting, with European defense stocks helping push the pan-European Stoxx 600 index to an all-time high. Among the big winners were Germany’s Renk Group, which offers parts for military vehicles and was up 17% on the day. Swedish car manufacturer and weapons systems manufacturer Saab was up 16%. In the U.S., the S&P Aerospace & Defense Select was up about 0.7% as of midday Tuesday.
Still, questions remain as to how the U.S. and Russia will move forward with negotiations. Ukrainian President Zelensky said his country won’t assent to “any agreements about us without us.”
In a major shift away from former President Joe Biden’s approach to Russia, Trump has seemed willing to work with the Russians on Ukraine, especially if it means U.S. companies benefit.
The Russians reportedly argued that U.S. companies stood to gain from improved relations with Russia, including American oil companies. According to Dmitriev, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund head, companies lost $300 billion by pulling out of Russia following its Ukraine invasion.
“U.S. oil majors have had very successful business in Russia,” Dmitriev told the New York Times. “We believe at some point they will be coming back, because why would they forgo these opportunities that Russia gave them to have access to Russian natural resources?”
It’s unclear whether Ukraine’s resources may also play a role in the negotiations. Ukrainian President Zelensky last week reportedly rejected an offer by the U.S. for support in exchange for half of his country’s mineral resources. Ukraine’s mineral reserves, including titanium and lithium, are commonly used in technology as well as the aerospace and defense industries.
