Washington, Feb 18 (EFE).- United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov agreed on Tuesday to normalize diplomatic relations between the two countries, to work on a plan that ends the war in Ukraine and to establish high-level negotiating teams.
Rubio and Lavrov, who met Tuesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, agreed to “lay the groundwork for future cooperation on matters of mutual geopolitical interest and historic economic and investment opportunities which will emerge from a successful end to the conflict in Ukraine,” according to a statement released by US Department of State spokeswoman Tammy Bruce.
“President (Donald) Trump wants to stop the killing; the United States wants peace and is using its strength in the world to bring countries together. President Trump is the only leader in the world who can get Ukraine and Russia to agree to that,” Bruce added.
Rubio and Lavrov agreed in Riyadh to a “consultation mechanism to address irritants to the bilateral relationship with the objective of taking steps necessary to normalize the operation of each respective diplomatic mission.”
They also announced the creation of “respective high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible.”
The meeting of the two countries’ top diplomats in Saudi Arabia followed a phone call between the US president and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, last week, where the two leaders discussed the need to end the conflict in Ukraine.
“One phone call followed by one meeting is not sufficient to establish enduring peace. We must take action, and today we took an important step forward,” Bruce said.
The Trump istration has stressed that Ukraine must compensate with exports of rare earths and other assets for the billions in military and financial aid Washington has provided over the past three years since Russia invaded Ukraine. EFE
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