Rubio explains why negotiations with Russians in Riyadh were necessary

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated that Washington agreed to direct talks with Russia to determine how serious they are about achieving peace in Ukraine, where Moscow has waged its full-scale war.

Rubio said direct contact is the only way to determine whether Russia is genuinely committed to peace.

"At the end of the day, we have to have relations with Russia, whether we like everything they’re doing or not, because we did with the Soviet Union – and we have to be able to test and see if they’re serious about ending this war," Rubio said in an interview with journalist Catherine Herridge, published by the US Department of State

Rubio explained that the meeting in Riyadh did not focus on any specifics of a potential peace agreement.

"The course of that conversation was as follows: number one, we have to – some level of regularisation just of our diplomatic missions, because we have to be able to communicate with them given the nature of our two countries and the importance that we have in the world. The second is there are things we could cooperate on geopolitically, potentially," he added. 

When asked if the US sees any interest in peace from Russia, Rubio replied, "We're going to find out".

"I can’t answer whether they’re serious about peace or not yet. That will have to be determined by the attitude they take moving forward. The only thing we agreed upon is that we’re going to talk about peace," Rubio stated.

On 18 February, senior officials from Russia and the US met in Saudi Arabia, where they agreed to "address irritants" to their bilateral relationship and continue preparations for negotiations on Russia’s war against Ukraine.

In particular, they agreed to appoint high-level working groups for negotiations on Ukraine.

On 20 February, Trump stated that Russia "has the cards" in potential peace negotiations to end the war, as it has "taken a lot of territory"