The meeting follows last week’s negotiations between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Diplomatic maneuvering and unresolved questions
After the previous talks, Rubio stated that ending the war requires all sides to agree on the terms of a peace deal, highlighting that each party will need to make concessions — though he avoided specifying what those compromises should be. He also hinted at Europe’s involvement and the potential sanctions lifting for Russia.
The first high-level meeting between Russia and the US since the full-scale invasion began in 2022 took place on Feb. 18 in Riyadh, lasting 4.5 hours. Neither Ukrainian nor EU representatives were invited.
On Feb. 19, Radio Free Europe journalist Rikard Jozwiak reported that EU ambassadors have approved a new sanctions package against Russia — the 16th since the war outbreak.