(CBSNews) – Senior officials from Russia and the United States convened in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, to discuss improving bilateral relations and exploring potential avenues for ending the war in Ukraine. As CBS News correspondent Holly Williams reports, some observers believe the Trump administration has already granted Russian President Vladimir Putin a strategic victory simply by agreeing to high-level negotiations while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, launched on February 24, 2022, continues.
That sentiment is particularly strong among Ukrainian leaders, who were not invited to participate in the initial discussions regarding the future of their nation.
The closed-door meeting at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh was led by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The talks mark a significant shift in President Trump’s approach, reversing three years of U.S. policy aimed at isolating Russia over its military actions in Ukraine. The discussions are expected to lay the groundwork for a potential meeting between President Trump and Putin.
Earlier this month, President Trump signaled a major policy change by announcing that he and Putin had agreed in a phone call to initiate negotiations to end the war. This move has left many Ukrainians feeling sidelined, as they were not included in the decision-making process.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded on Monday, stating that Ukraine would not accept any agreements made without Kyiv’s direct involvement.
Key Figures in the Negotiations
Rubio was joined by U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, while Lavrov was accompanied by Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov. The initial phase of the meeting also included Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and National Security Adviser Musaed al Alban, though they were expected to leave as negotiations progressed.
Ushakov confirmed that the discussions would be “purely bilateral,” explicitly excluding Ukrainian representatives.
This meeting marks a significant expansion of U.S.-Russia engagement after nearly three years of strained relations, which have reached their lowest point in decades due to the ongoing war.
Economic Considerations in the Talks
Senior Russian businessman Kirill Dmitriev, a Western-educated banker who heads a government-backed investment fund, was also involved in the discussions.
“I will be responsible for the economic aspect of the discussions,” Dmitriev told the Interfax news agency. He claimed that American businesses have lost more than $300 billion due to sanctions imposed on Russia under former President Biden.
“Finding joint economic paths and positive solutions to key issues is extremely important—not only for the U.S. but for many other countries beginning to realize the attractiveness of the Russian market,” Dmitriev stated, expressing hope for “a positive dialogue.”
“We see that President Trump is very actively addressing global challenges, and we hope that Russia’s position will be clearly heard and that the dialogue will continue,” he added.
Dmitriev, who studied at Stanford and Harvard and worked at Goldman Sachs early in his career, previously served as an intermediary between Moscow and Washington during Trump’s first term in office.
Concerns Over Ukraine’s Exclusion from Negotiations
The latest U.S. diplomatic engagement with Russia has triggered alarm among Ukraine and its key allies, who fear that Washington and Moscow may move forward with a deal that undermines Ukrainian interests.
In response, France called an emergency meeting of European Union member states and the United Kingdom on Monday to determine their next steps. French President Emmanuel Macron later spoke with both President Trump and President Zelenskyy.
“We seek a strong and lasting peace in Ukraine,” Macron wrote on X. “To achieve this, Russia must end its aggression, and this must be accompanied by strong and credible security guarantees for the Ukrainians.” He pledged to work closely with European, American, and Ukrainian partners to achieve this goal.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated on Monday that the U.K. could deploy troops to Ukraine to help secure a future peace agreement. Sweden also indicated its willingness to contribute forces for a peacekeeping mission.
While some European nations refrained from making explicit commitments, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk ruled out sending Polish troops to Ukraine but emphasized the need for increased defense spending.
“If we, Europeans, fail to invest significantly in defense now, we will be forced to spend ten times more if we do not prevent a larger war,” Tusk warned.
Saudi Arabia’s Growing Diplomatic Role
Hosting these talks represents a significant diplomatic milestone for Saudi Arabia and aligns with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s broader efforts to position the kingdom as a key player in international negotiations.
Saudi Arabia has previously facilitated prisoner exchanges and hosted President Zelenskyy during an Arab League summit in 2023. Zelenskyy is expected to visit the kingdom later this week.
For Prince Mohammed, who was once labeled a “pariah” by former U.S. President Joe Biden over the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, hosting such high-stakes negotiations enhances Saudi Arabia’s global standing.
The Saudi daily newspaper Okaz described the event as placing “the world’s eye on Riyadh.” Meanwhile, Asharq Al-Awsat, a London-based but Saudi-owned publication, highlighted the meeting as a “major step in international diplomacy, reinforcing Saudi Arabia’s status and positive influence on global affairs.”
Beyond diplomacy, Saudi Arabia has maintained close ties with Russia throughout the war in Ukraine, particularly through its OPEC+ partnership and broader geopolitical engagements.
Hosting these negotiations also serves as a counterbalance to recent tensions between the Trump administration and Saudi leaders, particularly regarding Trump’s repeated comments suggesting that the U.S. should “own” Gaza—an idea widely rejected by the international community, including the Arab world, which supports a future Palestinian state comprising Gaza and the West Bank.
