Russia and the US agreed Tuesday to start working toward ending the war in Ukraine and improving their diplomatic and economic ties, America's top diplomat said after talks that reflected an extraordinary about-face in US foreign policy under President Trump. In an interview with the AP, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the two sides agreed broadly to pursue three goals:
- Restore staffing at their respective embassies in Washington and Moscow
- Create a high-level team to support Ukraine peace talks
- Explore closer relations and economic cooperation
He stressed, however, that the talks—which were also attended by his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov—marked the beginning of a conversation, and more work needs to be done. No Ukrainian officials were present at the meeting, which came as the country is slowly but steadily losing ground against more numerous Russian troops in a grinding war that began nearly three years ago. President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country wouldn't accept any outcome from this week's talks if Kyiv doesn't take part. European allies have also expressed concerns they are being sidelined.
"Should this conflict come to an acceptable end, the incredible opportunities that exist to partner with the Russians geopolitically on issues of common interest and frankly, economically on issues that hopefully will be good for the world and also improve our relations in the long term," Rubio said. Tuesday's meeting was meant to pave the way for a summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. After the talks wrapped, Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, told Russia's Channel One that no date has been set yet for that summit.
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