Russia has said the US better understands its position on Ukraine following contentious talks held in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia has been seeking to score a diplomatic win and boost relations with Washington by hosting the talks, which have been condemned by the Ukrainians for not including them in discussions.
Riyadh is also hosting a major Arab summit on the future of Gaza this week.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and a range of US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on Tuesday.
“The conversation, I believe, was very useful,” Lavrov told a news conference after the discussions.
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“We did not just listen but heard each other, and I have reason to believe the American side has better understood our position.”
He also suggested the US was open to lifting sanctions on Russia, imposed since the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“There was strong interest in removing artificial barriers to the development of mutually beneficial economic cooperation,” Lavrov told reporters.
‘We didn’t accept ultimatums in 2022, when the situation was much more serious and nobody was helping us, and I have no intention of accepting any ultimatums’
– Volodymyr Zelensky
The talks have also been seen as an opportunity by Saudi Arabia to restore its relationship with the US, which have been hit badly by American support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
Before the Gaza war, Saudi Arabia had been expected to follow its neighbours the UAE and Bahrain in establishing open relations with Israel, a process that began during Donald Trump’s first tenure.
However, the destruction of Gaza and slaughter of over 48,000 people has seen that process largely collapse, with Mohammed bin Salman accusing Israel of committing genocide and saying there could be no ties without a Palestinian state.
Although the crown prince enjoyed a strong relationship with the former Trump administration, the situation has been more tense this time around, with the kingdom also hitting back against the US president’s plans to “take over” Gaza.
Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, told Middle East Eye the talks were a pitch for Saudi Arabia to push beyond its role as simply a regional power.
“By convening talks connected to the Russia war, Saudi Arabia is able to enhance its desired status as a rising regional power with international and global roles,” he said.
“It wants to be in the same league as countries like South Africa, Brazil, India and so on – maybe not as powerful as them, but also influential beyond just the Middle East.”
Arab states meeting on Gaza
Saudi Arabia’s involvement in Ukraine also comes as it attempts to play a leading role in – but not be scuppered by – the future of Gaza.
On Friday, the kingdom is set to host a summit of four Arab nations to discuss Trump’s Gaza proposals.
Trump’s threats to “empty” Gaza, which have been met with rapturous approval from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have alarmed Arab states who fear being forced to host the two million Palestinians at risk of expulsion.
Riyadh hopes to ‘reestablish itself as the peacemaker in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and, indeed, as a leader in the larger Muslim-Arab world’
– Amin Tarzi, University of Southern California
Earlier this month, Riyadh slammed a suggestion from Netanyahu that a Palestinian state could be created in Saudi Arabia.
Amin Tarzi, an adjunct professor of international relations at George Mason University, told MEE that Friday’s Gaza summit is a further attempt to assert itself as a leader and a powerbroker – not only between major powers such as the US and Russia but also within the region.
“Part of [Saudi Arabia’s] rationale for hosting and leading a meeting on the Egyptian proposal for reconstruction of Gaza without population displacement is to preempt – and offer an alternative to – any potential US-tabled alternative plan involving the involuntary displacement of the Palestinians from Gaza,” he explained.
Tarzi said by “taking the reins of championing the cause of the Palestinians” from Iran, Riyadh was helping to “reestablish itself as the peacemaker in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and, indeed, as a leader in the larger Muslim-Arab world”.
Friday’s meeting will see representatives from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the UAE meeting in Riyadh. According to AFP, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will also attend.
Last week, Rubio said the US was “eager” to hear new proposals on Gaza from Arab governments. but that “right now the only plan – they don’t like it – but the only plan is the Trump plan”.
‘Security guarantees’
Following Tuesday’s meetings, an agreement was reached between Russia and the US begin negotiations to end the Ukraine war.
According to US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, the discussions would focus on “territory” and “security guarantees”.
“This needs to be a permanent end to the war and not a temporary end, as we’ve seen in the past,” Waltz told a news conference.
Russia and the US also reportedy agreed to exchange ambassadors.
Many European nations are angry at the US for breaking the isolation imposed on Russia since 2022 and for excluding Ukrainians from the meeting.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday slammed the US for hosting talks “about Ukraine” but “without Ukraine”.
“We didn’t accept ultimatums in 2022, when the situation was much more serious and nobody was helping us, and I have no intention of accepting any ultimatums,” he said, speaking in Ankara.
Zelensky said Turkey should be included in the talks.
Compared to Europe, several Middle Eastern countries – including US allies Turkey, Israel and Saudi Arabia – have maintained relations with Russia since it invaded Ukraine.
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have all attempted to act as intermediaries in the Ukraine conflict, hosting Ukrainian and Russian officials at various points and brokering prisoner-exchange deals.