XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.atheism   
   From: NoBody@nowhere.com   
      
    Russia and the US agree to work toward improving ties and ending the   
   Ukraine war in landmark talks   
      
   President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country won’t accept any outcome   
   from this week’s talks if Kyiv doesn’t take part.   
      
   Feb. 18, 2025   
      
      
   U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, second left, meets with Saudi Foreign   
   Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Saudi National Security Advisor   
   Mosaad bin Mohammad Al-Aiban, U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz,   
   third left, U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, left, Russian Foreign   
   Minister Sergei Lavrov, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s   
   foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, second right, at Diriyah Palace, in   
   Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday Feb. 18, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo   
   via AP)   
   By Matthew Lee And Dasha Litvinova The Associated Press   
      
   RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Russia and the U.S. agreed Tuesday to start   
   working toward ending the war in Ukraine and improving their diplomatic and   
   economic ties, the two countries’ top diplomats said after talks that   
   reflected an extraordinary about-face in U.S. foreign policy under   
   President Donald Trump.   
      
   In an interview with The Associated Press after the meeting, U.S. Secretary   
   of State Marco Rubio said the two sides agreed broadly to pursue three   
   goals: to restore staffing at their respective embassies in Washington and   
   Moscow, to create a high-level team to support Ukraine peace talks and to   
   explore closer relations and economic cooperation.   
      
   He stressed, however, that the talks — which were attended by his Russian   
   counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and other senior Russian and U.S. officials —   
   marked the beginning of a conversation, and more work needs to be done.   
      
   Lavrov echoed Rubio’s remarks and told reporters that “the conversation was   
   very useful.”   
      
   “We not only listened, but also heard each other,” he said.   
      
   Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Waltz, and special Mideast envoy   
   Steven Witkoff joined Rubio at the table, along with Lavrov and Russian   
   President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov.   
      
   No Ukrainian officials were present at the meeting, which came as the   
   beleaguered country is slowly but steadily losing ground against more   
   numerous Russian troops in a grinding war that began nearly three years   
   ago.   
      
   Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country would not accept   
   any outcome from the talks since Kyiv didn’t take part, and he postponed   
   his own trip to the kingdom scheduled for Wednesday.   
      
   European allies have also expressed concerns that they are being sidelined.   
      
   Improving Russian-US relations   
      
   Ties between Russia and the U.S. have fallen to their lowest level in   
   decades in recent years — a rift that has been widening ever since Russia   
   annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and only worsened after Moscow’s full-   
   scale invasion.   
      
   The U.S., along with European nations, imposed a raft of sanctions on   
   Russia in an effort to damage its economy. And embassies in Washington and   
   Moscow have been hit hard by expulsions of large numbers of diplomats, as   
   well as other restrictions.   
      
   Rubio said Tuesday that ending the war in Ukraine could “unlock the door”   
   for “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.”   
      
   His comments were further evidence of the remarkable U.S. reversal on   
   Russia after years in which Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, led   
   international efforts to isolate Moscow.   
      
   Tuesday’s meeting was meant to pave the way for a summit between Trump and   
   Putin. After the talks ended, Ushakov and Waltz said no date has been set   
   yet for that summit. Ushakov told Russian television that a meeting was   
   “unlikely” to take place next week, while Waltz said he thought it could be   
   arranged in the coming weeks.   
      
   Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Lavrov mentioned the same three   
   goals as Rubio and said that Washington and Moscow agreed to appoint   
   representatives to carry out “regular consultations” on Ukraine.   
      
   “I have reason to believe that the American side has started to better   
   understand our position” the Russian foreign minister said.   
      
   Witkoff said the meeting was “positive, upbeat, constructive. Everybody was   
   there to get to the right outcome.”   
      
   The meeting marked the most extensive contact between the two countries   
   since Moscow’s Feb. 24, 2022, invasion. Lavrov and then-U.S. Secretary of   
   State Antony Blinken talked briefly on the sidelines of a G-20 meeting in   
   India nearly two years ago, but tensions remained high.   
      
   Concerns from allies they are being sidelined   
      
   The recent U.S. diplomatic blitz on the war has sent Ukraine and key allies   
   scrambling to ensure a seat at the table amid concerns that Washington and   
   Moscow could press ahead with a deal that won’t be favorable to them.   
      
   Kyiv’s absence at Tuesday’s talks rankled many Ukrainians, and France   
   called an emergency meeting of European Union countries and the U.K. on   
   Monday to discuss the war. Kyiv’s participation in such talks was a bedrock   
   of U.S. policy under Biden.   
      
   Rubio said Tuesday that ending the conflict would require concessions from   
   all sides and that Europe would play a part — noting that they have also   
   imposed sanctions on Russia. He said Washington “is not going to   
   predetermine” would those concessions would be.   
      
   U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that NATO membership for   
   Ukraine was unrealistic and suggested Kyiv should abandon hopes of winning   
   all its territory back from Russia — two key items on Putin’s wish list.   
      
   Waltz said “the practical reality is that there is going to be some   
   discussion of territory, and there’s going to be a discussion of security   
   guarantees.”   
      
   French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday said he spoke by phone to Trump   
   and Zelenskyy following Monday’s European meeting.   
      
   “We seek a strong and lasting peace in Ukraine,” Macron wrote on social   
   media platform X. “To achieve this, Russia must end its aggression, and   
   this must be accompanied by strong and credible security guarantees for the   
   Ukrainians,” he said and vowed to “work on this together with all   
   Europeans, Americans, and Ukrainians.”   
      
   Saudi Arabia’s role   
      
   The meeting at the Diriyah Palace in the Saudi capital of Riyadh also   
   highlighted de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to   
   be a major diplomatic player, burnishing a reputation severely tarnished by   
   the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.   
      
   Saudi state media described the talks as happening at the prince’s   
   direction. Like the neighboring United Arab Emirates, the prince has   
   maintained close relations to Russia throughout its war on Ukraine, both   
      
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