WASHINGTON, February 18. /TASS/. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio believes that if everything works as planned with the Ukraine settlement, Washington and Moscow could have a beautiful economic partnership on their hands. He made the corresponding statement at a press conference following Russian-American talks in Riyadh.
According to Rubio, the parties have agreed among other things to begin "to engage in identifying the extraordinary opportunities that exist should this conflict [in Ukraine] come to an acceptable end."
He clarified that this concerns "credible opportunities that exist to partner with the Russians geopolitically on issues of common interest and economically." In Rubio’s view, such a partnership would "be good for the world" and also buttress relations between Russia and the US long term.
The Secretary of State said that should the countries come to terms on a Ukraine deal, this would pave the way to "work together on other geopolitical matters of common interest and some pretty unique, potentially historic economic partnerships."
"The key that unlocks the door for those opportunities, however, is the end to this conflict," he stressed.
On February 18, Russia and the US held talks in Riyadh, which lasted 4.5 hours. Russia was represented at the meeting by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, presidential aide Yury Ushakov and RDIF head Kirill Dmitriev. The US was represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and the US leader's special envoy for the Middle East Steven Witkoff.
According to Ushakov, the delegations talked at length about everything on the agenda, including bringing the positions of Russia and the United States together and contacts on Ukraine. Lavrov called the conversation with US officials very constructive and reported that Russia and the United States had agreed to ensure the earliest possible appointment of ambassadors in both capitals.