US brokers peace deal with Russia on the Ukranian War - EU upset it was not consulted and sidelined, so did China as a super power and an ally of Russia -- Russia says its not opposed to Ukraines entry into the EU but not a military alliance like NATO.

 Breaking ground on a 3-year war - US and Russia agree on 4 principles following talks on Ukraine, overriding EU, China and even INDIA – EU SAYS any peace US president brokers must respect Ukraines independence - Rubio outlines a 4-point deal  

By TN Ashok.         Washington, Feb 20, 2025  

 

While China, India and EU had not been consulted or taken into confidence on the US President Donald Trumps brokered deal with his Russian buddy and president Vladimir Putin, the United States and Russia agreed on four principles following talks that lasted more than four hours in Saudi Arabia. 

 

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio outlined the four principles as the backbone of the deal.  Its not yet clear if these terms and conditions for ending the war are acceptable to the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, whom Europe baxks strongly while not admitting it into NATO for technical reasons under article 5 of the constitution which forbids a new member during an ongoing war.  

 

The four-principle outlined by US Secretary of state Marco Rubio are:  

1. “To reestablish the functionality of our respective missions in Washington and Moscow. For us to be able to continue to move down this road, we need to have diplomatic facilities that are operating and functioning normally.” 

2. “We’re going to appoint a high-level team from our end to help negotiate and work through the end of the conflict in Ukraine in a way that’s enduring and acceptable to all the parties engaged.” 

3. “To begin to discuss and think about and examine both the geopolitical and economic cooperation that could result from an end to the conflict in Ukraine.” 

4. “The five of us that were here today… are going to remain engaged in this process to make sure that it’s moving along in a productive way.” 

 

The five people Rubio referred to were himself, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and presidential aide Yuri Ushakov. 

What Russia is saying: Lavrov said talks with US officials on Tuesday in Riyadh were “useful.” 

“I think the conversation was very useful. We not only listened, but also heard each other,” Lavrov said Tuesday. 

CNN reported Lavrov as saying that he told US diplomats in Riyadh that if Ukraine joined NATO that would pose a “direct threat” to Russian sovereignty. 

Only Trump can end Ukraine war, says Rubio 

 

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sits next to U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at Diriyah Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday. Courtesy AP 

 

Only US President Donald Trump has been able to “drive the war (in Ukraine) to a conclusion,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said shortly after Russian and American officials met in Saudi Arabia to discuss the three-year-long war in Ukraine. “In just a few months, President Trump has shifted the entire global conversation from not if the war is going to end, but just how it’s going to end. Only President Trump can do that,” Rubio said after talks with Russian officials in Riyadh. 

 

US media reports claimed his comments mirror an earlier statement from a spokesperson for the US Department of State, who said Trump is the “only leader in the world who can get Ukraine and Russia” to agree to peace. “President 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,” spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a Tuesday statement. 

 

Rubio said Tuesday Trump wants the war in Ukraine to end in a way that is “fair, enduring, sustainable and acceptable” to all parties involved in the conflict. He pointed out the US and Russian teams in Riyadh on Tuesday had “agreed on what the goal is.” 

“The goal is to bring an end to this conflict in a way that’s fair, enduring, sustainable and acceptable to all parties involved,” Rubio said. “What that looks like — well, that’s what the ongoing engagement is going to be all about,” he added. 

Rubio said that the European Union, which had been sidelined from Tuesday’s talks, would “have to be at the table at some point,” because they have sanctioned Russia over its war in Ukraine. 

Russia and US agreed to "take each other’s interests into account," a Putin aide says 

 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, center right, listen to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the talks at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday. Russian Foreign Ministry & Reuters 

 

Yuri Ushakov, a presidential aide to Vladimir Putin and part of Moscow’s negotiating team in Saudi Arabia, said Russia and the United States agreed to “take each other’s interests into account” during talks in Saudi Arabia Tuesday. Asked by Russia’s Channel One how the negotiations went, Ushakov said: “Not bad.” 

The aide said it is “difficult to say” that the positions of Russia and the US are “getting closer,” but that the two countries discussed this in Riyadh. 

  

Meanwhile, the Zelensky-Erdogan meeting is underway in Ankara, Turkish presidency says 

 

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan, left, welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ankara, Turkey, on Tuesday. Courtesy Reuters 

 

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky was meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the capital Ankara, the Turkish presidency said Tuesday. The presidency said earlier that the pair would meet to “further strengthen cooperation” between the two countries. 

Their meeting coincides with talks that the top diplomats of Russia and the United States had met in Saudi Arabia to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. Kyiv was not invited to those talks. 

  

Russian official says talks with US about Ukraine were "positive" 

 

The head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund Kirill Dmitriev speaks to the media in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday. Courtesy Reuters 

 

Thje Riyadh talks between top diplomats from Russia and the United States Tuesday were “positive,” Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and part of Moscow’s negotiating team in Saudi Arabia, told american media.  

 

The four hour talks have now wrapped for the day, he stated. In parallel,  the Kremlin said Tuesday that Ukraine joining the European Union is its “sovereign right,” as it continues to sound more relaxed about Kyiv joining a political and economic union than a military alliance like NATO. 

 

Asked about the Kremlin’s stance on Ukraine joining the EU, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “This is the sovereign right of any country.” “We are talking about economic integration processes. Here, of course, no one can dictate anything to any country, and we are not going to do this,” he said.  

However, Peskov said that the Kremlin takes a “completely different position” on issues relating to “security, defense or military alliances.” Also on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova reiterated Moscow’s long-standing position that Ukrainian membership of NATO would be “unacceptable” to Russia. 

Ukrainian membership of NATO "unacceptable" to Russia, a foreign minister spokesperson says 

Ukrainian membership of NATO would be “unacceptable” to Moscow, a spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry said Tuesday. “Ukraine’s membership in NATO… is unacceptable for us. This creates serious threats to our security and will lead to catastrophic consequences for all of Europe,” Maria Zakharova said at a news conference. 

 

Zakharova also said that “refusing to accept Kyiv into NATO now is not enough,” suggesting that Moscow may want longer-term guarantees that Ukraine will not be allowed to join the military alliance in the future. 

 

The spokesperson called on NATO to “disavow its Bucharest promises of 2008,” referring to the alliance’s agreement at a summit in the Romanian capital that left Ukraine and Georgia with an open-ended promise of eventual membership. 

 

Last week, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dealt a blow to Ukraine’s hopes of imminent NATO membership, saying this was not a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement with Russia. Later, Hegseth appeared to backtrack on his own remarks, telling reporters in Brussels that “everything is on the table” for Ukraine during negotiations. 

 

At last year’s NATO summit in Washington, DC, the alliance reaffirmed that Ukraine is on an “irreversible path” to NATO membership, but did not provide a timeline. After Hegseth’s comments, a NATO official briefed that Ukraine’s membership “is not necessarily something that needs to be negotiated with Russia. It’s something that’s a decision for allies.” The official insisted that “the alliance’s position has not changed, and Ukraine is still on a path to membership.” 

  

A peace deal "must respect Ukraine’s independence," EU chief tells US envoy 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen greets Keith Kellogg, US Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday.  

 

The president of the European Commission told the US Ukraine-Russia envoy during a meeting Tuesday that “now is a critical moment” for the war, and that a resolution “must respect Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.” 

 

Ursula von der Leyen met Keith Kellogg in Brussels on Tuesday, as American and Russian officials convened in Saudi Arabia for talks aimed at ending Moscow’s war on its neighbor. 

The meeting comes as Europe scrambles to ensure its involvement in those discussions. European leaders including 7:58 p.m. GMT+5:30, February 18, 2025 

  

Only Trump can end Ukraine war, says Rubio

 

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sits next to U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at Diriyah Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday. Couresy AP 

Only US President Donald Trump has been able to “drive the war (in Ukraine) to a conclusion,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said shortly after Russian and American officials met in Saudi Arabia to discuss the three-year-long war in Ukraine. 

“In just a few months, President Trump has shifted the entire global conversation from not if the war is going to end, but just how it’s going to end. Only President Trump can do that,” Rubio said after talks with Russian officials in Riyadh. 

His comments mirror an earlier statement from a spokesperson for the US Department of State, who said Trump is the “only leader in the world who can get Ukraine and Russia” to agree to peace. 

“President 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,” spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a Tuesday statement. 

Rubio on Tuesday added that Trump wants the war in Ukraine to end in a way that is “fair, enduring, sustainable and acceptable” to all parties involved in the conflict. 

Rubio said the US and Russian teams in Riyadh on Tuesday had “agreed on what the goal is.” 

“The goal is to bring an end to this conflict in a way that’s fair, enduring, sustainable and acceptable to all parties involved,” Rubio said. “What that looks like — well, that’s what the ongoing engagement is going to be all about,” he added. 

Rubio said that the European Union, which had been sidelined from Tuesday’s talks, would “have to be at the table at some point,” because they have sanctioned Russia over its war in Ukraine. 

This post has been updated with additional comment from Rubio.

Russia and US agreed to "take each other’s interests into account," a Putin aide says 

 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, center right, listen to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the talks at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday.Courtesy Reuters 

Yuri Ushakov, a presidential aide to Vladimir Putin and part of Moscow’s negotiating team in Saudi Arabia, said Russia and the United States agreed to “take each other’s interests into account” during talks in Saudi Arabia Tuesday. Asked by Russia’s Channel One how the negotiations went, Ushakov said: “Not bad.” 

The aide said it is “difficult to say” that the positions of Russia and the US are “getting closer,” but that the two countries discussed this in Riyadh. 

Meanwhile, the Zelensky-Erdogan meeting is underway in Ankara, Turkish presidency says 

 

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan, left, welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ankara, Turkey, on Tuesday. Courtesy Reuters 

Ukrainian leader Volodymy Zelensky was meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the capital Ankara, the Turkish presidency said Tuesday. 

The presidency said earlier that the pair would meet to “further strengthen cooperation” between the two countries. 

Their meeting is being held on the same day that the top diplomats of Russia and the United States met in Saudi Arabia to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. Kyiv was not invited to those talks. 

  

Russian official says talks with US about Ukraine were "positive"

 

The head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund Kirill Dmitriev speaks to the media in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday. Hamad I Reuters 

Talks in Riyadh between top diplomats from Russia and the United States on Tuesday were “positive,” Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and part of Moscow’s negotiating team in Saudi Arabia, told CNN. 

The talks lasted more than four hours and have now wrapped for the day, he added. 

Separately, the Kremlin said Tuesday that Ukraine joining the European Union is its “sovereign right,” as it continues to sound more relaxed about Kyiv joining a political and economic union than a military alliance like NATO. 

Asked about the Kremlin’s stance on Ukraine joining the EU, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “This is the sovereign right of any country.” 

“We are talking about economic integration processes. Here, of course, no one can dictate anything to any country and we are not going to do this,” he added. 

However, Peskov said that the Kremlin takes a “completely different position” on issues relating to “security, defense or military alliances.” 

Also on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova reiterated Moscow’s long-standing position that Ukrainian membership of NATO would be “unacceptable” to Russia. 

  

Ukrainian membership of NATO "unacceptable" to Russia, a foreign minister spokesperson says 

Ukrainian membership of NATO would be “unacceptable” to Moscow, a spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry said Tuesday.  “Ukraine’s membership in NATO… is unacceptable for us. This creates serious threats to our security and will lead to catastrophic consequences for all of Europe,” Maria Zakharova said at a news conference. 

Zakharova also said that “refusing to accept Kyiv into NATO now is not enough,” suggesting that Moscow may want longer-term guarantees that Ukraine will not be allowed to join the military alliance in the future. 

The spokesperson called on NATO to “disavow its Bucharest promises of 2008,” referring to the alliance’s agreement at a summit in the Romanian capital that left Ukraine and Georgia with an open-ended promise of eventual membership. 

Last week, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dealt a blow to Ukraine’s hopes of imminent NATO membership, saying this was not a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement with Russia. Later, Hegseth appeared to backtrack on his own remarks, telling reporters in Brussels that “everything is on the table” for Ukraine during negotiations. 

At last year’s NATO summit in Washington, DC, the alliance reaffirmed that Ukraine is on an “irreversible path” to NATO membership, but did not provide a timeline. 

After Hegseth’s comments, a NATO official briefed that Ukraine’s membership “is not necessarily something that needs to be negotiated with Russia. It’s something that’s a decision for allies.” The official insisted that “the alliance’s position has not changed and Ukraine is still on a path to membership.” 

  

  

Source; CNN and US media