Rubio stated the purpose of the meeting with Russia in Riyadh and mentioned whether the issue of territories was discussed.

The United States of America (USA) and the Russian Federation (RF), during negotiations in Saudi Arabia, did not address the issue of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

This was reported by RBK-Ukraine, citing U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in an interview for X.

Negotiations in Saudi Arabia

"We did not discuss any specific issues regarding the territories, none at all, because that was not the purpose of this meeting. The goal of the meeting was to determine whether there is a real interest in discussing peace or not. If there is, then it's a process that can be initiated," Rubio stated.

The U.S. Secretary of State also termed it "foolish" to suggest that Ukraine or Europe would be "cut out" of the negotiations, as it is impossible to stop the war without the perspectives of all parties being represented.

"The same goes for the Europeans. Europeans and the EU have their own set of sanctions against Russia. Even if we were to lift all our sanctions - which is not on the table - the Europeans would also need to lift theirs for anything to become possible. Therefore, at some point, consultations with all of them will be necessary, but we are simply not at that stage yet," he explained.

Is Russia Committed to Peace?

According to Rubio, he cannot currently answer whether Russia is genuinely committed to peace. This will depend on the position the terrorist state takes in the future.

"The only thing we agreed on is that we will talk about peace. What they propose, what they are willing to accept, what they are ready to consider, will determine whether they are serious about peace or not. We are just not at that stage yet," he added.

It is worth recalling that on February 18, a meeting of U.S. and Russian delegations at a high-level took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during which the parties discussed the resolution of the Russian-Ukrainian war, among other topics. More details can be found in the RBK-Ukraine article.