US names main reason for talks with Russian Federation

Direct contacts are the only way to find out if the Russian Federation is really set on peace, the US State Department said.

“At the end of the day, we have to have a relationship with Russia, whether we like everything they do or not, as we did with the Soviet Union, and we have to be able to see if they are serious about ending this war,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

He revealed that the meeting in Riyadh did not talk about any of the finer points of a potential peace agreement.

“The conversation was that, one, we have to - at some level - streamline our diplomatic missions, because we have to be able to communicate with them, given the nature of our two countries and the importance we have in the world. The second thing is there are things that we could cooperate on geopolitically, potentially,” Rubio said.

Asked if the U.S. sees Russia's interest in the world, the secretary of state said, “We're going to find out.”

“I can't answer yet whether they're serious about peace or not. It will depend on how they proceed. The only thing we have agreed on is that we are going to talk about peace,” he said.

Photo: screenshot.