The agenda of the meeting of the Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with American officials in Riyadh on 18 February is devoted to the restoration of the entire range of bilateral relations, as well as the preparation of possible negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement, the Kremlin reported.
Since Trump revealed last Wednesday he had spoken to Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the phone, the UK government’s line has been that there can be no talks about the future of Ukraine without Ukraine.
Fred Fleitz, an aide to Trump during his first term in office, told Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday’s meeting in Paris seemed to be a case of ‘FOMO’ – or ‘fear of missing out’ among European leaders.
EPA/RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES] Sir Keir has a very different job to do this time, in very different times with a very different kind of leader.
But the PM may want to argue that Europe still has an important role to play in securing peace, especially if – as Trump has suggested – it’ll be European troops who will be put on the ground in Ukraine.
