Putin, Trump may meet before end of February: Kremlin

Moscow, Feb 19 (IANS) Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump could meet as early as this month, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday. 

"The Western media write a lot, our media write a lot ... Maybe, or maybe not," said Peskov when asked whether Putin and Trump could meet before the end of February.

The meeting would require some preparation from the Russian foreign ministry, he said.

Russian and US officials held talks on Tuesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks with the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.

On the Russian side, senior political, intelligence, and economic officials participated, including Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin's foreign affairs advisor.

Putin's foreign affairs advisor Yuri Ushakov said after the meeting that the specific date of the meeting between the leaders of Russia and the US has not yet been finalised.

The US President said on Tuesday he will "probably" meet Russian President Vladimir Putin this month.

Dismissing Ukraine's concern about being left out of US-Russian talks in Saudi Arabia on ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Trump noted during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida that Ukraine could have made a deal with Russia three years ago.

"Today I heard, 'oh, we weren't invited.' Well you've been there for three years, you should have ended it ... you should have never started it. You could have made a deal," said Trump.

Trump also said he would not oppose the stationing of European peacekeeping troops in Ukraine.

"Having troops over there would be fine, I wouldn't object to it at all," he said. However, he indicated that the United States would not participate, "because we're very far away."

Earlier Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States and Russia reached an agreement on four principles after extensive talks in Saudi Arabia, including the establishment of a high-level team to help "negotiate and work through the end of the conflict in Ukraine in a way that's enduring and acceptable to all the parties engaged."

This meeting in Saudi Arabia is the latest indication of a thaw in the previously frosty relations between Washington and Moscow since Trump took office in January, Xinhua news agency reported.

--IANS

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