“The American edition of The New York Times has learned that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is trying to reassure European countries that were concerned about the direct contacts of the US side from the Russian Federation during a meeting in Riyadh.”, – WRITE: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: “European Truth” with reference to the publication of The New York Times
Details: The publication refers to the results of a telephone conversation of the US Secretary of State with officials from the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy, which is at its disposal.
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According to the newspaper, Rubio tried to assure Europe that negotiations in Saudi Arabia were not a sharp departure from American politics, as many feared.
In a conversation with European officials, the Secretary of State said that this meeting was rather the first step in the process, to check whether the Kremlin was seriously set up to conclude an agreement.
Rubio told Europeans that no, the Trump administration does not plan to impose on Ukraine and Europe the conditions of any bilateral agreements with Russia.
He also assured that the US administration would not abolish US sanctions against Russia without significant changes in Moscow’s behavior, although it did not exclude limited weakening of some measures if the Russians begin to take steps that the administration seeks.
Rubio acknowledged that the Trump administration has been clearly understood that Russia could try to use negotiations to sow a split in the West or weaken its isolation in the international arena.
The publication notes that the Epistle of Rubio to European officials after meeting in Riyadh was more subtle and reconciliation than public statements by some representatives of the Trump team.
Part of the call was devoted to explaining why Ukrainians and Europeans were not included in the Riyadh negotiations.
Rubio explained that the United States went to this because most of the conversation was focused on bilateral issues between the United States and Russia.
This included the discovery of the discussion on the removal of restrictions on their embassies, which were actually closed in both countries.
Negotiations between officials of the United States and Russia to remove these diplomatic restrictions would be the first verification of Russia’s intentions, Rubio said.
According to him, the failure in the negotiations on the embassies will show that the Kremlin is not serious about the negotiations on the termination of the war in Ukraine.
He also told the Europeans that he could not say on the basis of this one meeting whether the Russians are seriously set up to conclude a peace agreement.
But, he said, they gave enough signs that it is possible to require further discussions.
Rubio completed the conversation, promising to keep the US allies up to date and call for unity.
Prehistory:
- On February 18, Saudi Arabia was a meeting of the Russian Federation and the United States, which agreed to “eliminate stimuli” of bilateral relations and continue working on the preparation of negotiations on the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
- In particular, they agreed to appoint a high -level group to negotiate Ukraine.
- On February 20, Trump stated that Russia “has a trump card” in potential peace talks to end the war, as the Russian Federation “seized a large territory”.