The US and Russia met again at the highest level since 2002 and the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory, and for more than four hours they seemingly laid the groundwork for the next steps toward ending the war, which will turn three years old next week.
The "hidden" messages behind the US-Russia talks
When the US and Russia are, after such a long period of time, with so many open issues and the temperature in diplomatic relations for the last three and a half years since the Biden-Putin meeting in Switzerland in the summer of 2021, at "polar" levels, it is known that a roadmap has been drawn up to begin with, with which direct communication between Washington and Moscow will be restored from at least 20 status-quo.
Moscow appears to have agreed to the American proposal that Trump and Putin talk more often, especially on issues on which, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, "there is no convergence of views" .
Moscow also seems to accept the US President's move to achieve immediate results in the war in Ukraine, but it has clearly shown that the path will be neither short, as Trump predicts and promotes, nor easy.
The statement by the new US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, that "this is a period of difficult diplomacy", is indicative of how, especially in such complex and chronic issues as Russian-Ukrainian relations, "I will end the war in 24 hours", which has turned into "I will end the war in the first 100 days" is in the realm of exaggeration and fantasy.
What was ultimately demanded from Russia and what did the US provide?
Marco Rubio, along with the White House security chief and Trump's chief negotiator, reportedly urged Russia to send its terms for an immediate ceasefire on the Ukrainian fronts currently raging in Eastern Ukraine and the Russian province of Kursk.
Neither the American nor the Russian side has revealed details, and the information that leaked out, as if Washington handed Moscow a three-point plan, was categorically denied by Lavrov.
The US and Trump want developments to move towards a ceasefire immediately and have raised this specific issue with Russia as a key condition, as Donald Trump intends to build his next steps on this, in which he will include Kiev and Europe on the one hand, while at the same time asking them to commit to participating in the next phase of his peace plan and to providing security guarantees with their own means to Kiev.
For its part, Russia seems to have given Washington, albeit unofficially, the message to convey to the Ukrainian side that today Putin is able to sit at the same table with Zelensky "if the conditions are met" .
At the same time, as expected, Moscow has given the US a wide range of demands - apparently not verbally - which go as far as returning NATO to its 2008 borders.
What Moscow is essentially gaining from today's meeting, beyond impressions, is the fact that Moscow has demanded similar moves from the US and pressure for similar continuity from Europe for the lifting of economic sanctions.
The nearly five-hour discussions appear to have provided Trump's team with material that will lead to immediate developments. Trump has already been briefed on Russian plans and demands and will prepare his proposals based on them.
From this perspective, today there is data and a historical tone, as when the Kremlin and the Oval Office speak, developments are produced on a global scale.
Ukraine, the European Union, Ankara and the absence of China
The Riyadh meeting was empty of people outside the world's two main poles. Ukraine, which has been at war for nearly three years, was not invited, and the European Union, which Trump can claim has not delivered as well as the US but has nevertheless tried hard, was also left out.
Rubio stressed that there is no way to create a text that will be imposed on Ukraine and that Donald Trump's intentions should not be misinterpreted. As he characteristically put it, "this is not the first time in history that there has been continuous movement at the level of shadow diplomacy."
The fact that the US today perceives Ukraine as a "secondary" condition of the issue and in an inelegant way diminishes its sacrifices and their resistance to the Russian invasion. This has not only brought inconvenience to Kiev, but has also mobilized a plan for which Trump seems to have miscalculated.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy certainly surprised the US diplomatic mission in Riyadh when he announced a few minutes before returning from Ankara that he would ultimately cancel the continuation of his visit...
The Ukrainian president also brought to the table a "player" that has played a significant role in developments on the ground and diplomatic efforts of the last three years, Turkey.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan also became the first leader outside the EU to openly side with Ukraine's long-standing demand for the country's territorial integrity, and through twists and turns, this will be a given in some of the many and crucial negotiations that will follow at the table tomorrow.
For its part, the Union, again at the initiative of Paris, decided to expand the extraordinary summits and inform other partners – including Greece – that had not been invited to the first conference.
The mobility that exists today is indicative of the gravity of what is at stake, which encompasses not only Ukraine, but the entire world.
From the "puzzle" of the crucial conferences, China's absence seems resounding. In fact, there is no official position on the developments from Beijing, beyond leaks and wishes.
China seems to be taking a wait-and-see stance as it wishes, on the one hand, to see the American and Russian proposals on paper and, on the other, to "read" Moscow, which it may have "surprised" in many ways for the war in Eastern Europe, but at the same time has saved by buying Russian energy in any form for three years.
China will play a role in the short term as it will not allow Russia, which is currently a "hostage", to cooperate with Washington, which is essentially its great "enemy". (A2 Televizion)
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