How did Trump assess the negotiations between Russia and the United States?

US President Donald Trump highly appreciated the talks between the Russian and American delegations in Riyadh.

In response to questions from journalists, Trump noted that after this meeting he was "quite confident" that an agreement between Russia and Ukraine could be reached. In his opinion, the Russian side "wants to do something and stop the violence."

"We want to end this. This is a senseless war," Trump said, once again emphasizing that the war did not start during his presidency. In his opinion, the military conflict could have been resolved several years ago without any territorial losses.

At the same time, Trump expressed his disappointment that Ukraine was not invited to the talks.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine would not recognize the results of the meeting and called on Western countries not to hold talks without Kiev's participation.

The European Union countries, on the other hand, insist that "there can be no long-term peace without Ukraine and the EU."

Trump said: "They [Ukraine] had three years to come to the negotiating table."

The talks in Saudi Arabia took place on February 18. The Russian delegation included Assistant to the President Yuri Ushakov, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and the head of the Russian Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev. The US side was represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Walz, and Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff.

Moscow and Washington have agreed to form high-level working groups, begin a process of study and develop a framework for cooperation on "mutual geopolitical interests" and "economic and investment opportunities that will arise after the end of the wars," US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.

The White House described the meeting as "a major step towards peace." The Russian side also gave it a positive assessment.

"The talks were very useful. We not only heard, but also understood each other," said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Follow “Zamin” news on “Telegram”