High American and Russian officials, led by the heads of diplomacy, meet on Tuesday in Ryad, to try to relaunch a lowest relationship since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and prepare a possible summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
This ambitious agenda gives chills to kyiv and in the worried European capitals that this rapprochement between Washington and Moscow does not come without their knowledge.
The meeting, the first at this level and in such a format since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, is due to take place in a large hotel in the Saudi capital, Ritz-Carlton, Tuesday morning, said a Responsible for the American delegation under the guise of anonymity.
On the American side, the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who arrived in Ryad on this, participate in it where he spoke with the Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Salmane, as well as the National Security Advisor to the American President, Mike Waltz, and the Special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
Russia will be represented by the chief of his diplomacy Sergei Lavrov and Iouri Ouchakov, the diplomatic advisor to Vladimir Putin, according to the Russian presidency.
No agreement imposed
The two camps have endeavored to minimize expectations, but the meeting marks a new spectacular twist in relations between the United States and Russia, which Europeans fear.
As proof, French President Emmanuel Macron has been invited to Paris in Paris in Paris in Paris to try to display a common posture on European security and not play spectators.
He also spoke with Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“We want a solid and lasting peace in Ukraine. To this end, Russia must stop its assault and this must be accompanied by strong and credible security guarantees for the Ukrainians ”he wrote on X after this series of discussions.
Mr. Zelensky said that his French counterpart had informed him of discussions with European leaders and that they shared a « vision commune » The way of achieving peace.
The Ukrainian president, who is in Türkiye on Tuesday, he was expected on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, the day after the meeting between Americans and Russians.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the 61st Munich on Security Conference (MSC), on February 16, 2025 in southern Germany / Sven Hoppe / Pool / AFP
He repeated on Monday that Ukraine “Would not recognize” No agreement concluded without it and regretted not having been informed upstream of Ryad talks.
Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg, however, assured on Monday in Brussels that the United States would not impose an agreement in kyiv to end the war. He must go to kyiv himself on Thursday.
Ryad’s meeting “Will be mainly devoted to the restoration of all Russian-American relations”said spokesman for the Russian presidency Dmitri Peskov on Monday.
According to him, she “Will also be devoted to the preparation of possible negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement (conflict) and to the organization of a meeting between the two presidents” Putin and Trump.
“I don’t think we should see something that will be detailed or as an advance towards a sort of negotiation”nuanced the spokesperson for the US State Department, Tammy Bruce.
She insisted that Washington wants to see above all “If (the Russians) are serious” in their desire to reconnect.
The American president sowed dismay in Europe by speaking with his Russian counterpart during the week, hitherto considered pariah by the West.
They had agreed” immediately “ Start negotiations to put an end to the war in Ukraine and says they consider an meeting at the top, also in Saudi Arabia, which according to Donald Trump could take place “Very soon”.
Arabia in the center
Host country, Saudi Arabia is thus essential in a key diplomatic sequence by taking advantage of its neutrality in the war in Ukraine.
The Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al-Saoud (d.) Receives US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the headquarters of the Saudi Foreign Ministry in Ryad, February 17, 2025 / Evelyn Hockstein / Pool / AFP
Especially since in Donald Trump’s vision for the Middle East, the Saudi kingdom has a major role to play, the American president caressing the hope of normalization of the links between Arabia and Israel, still very hypothetical.
Because he will have to overcome the opposition of the Arab countries to his proposal to take control of the Gaza Strip by moving the Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan there.
The Middle East could thus be on the table of talks, according to the chief of Russian diplomacy, at a time when Russian and American compete in the region and when Moscow saw his allies Bashar al-Assad in Syria and Iran Essu failures in recent months.
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