Sergey Lavrov, Russia's Foreign Minister, said on the 18th (local time) that he held "useful negotiations" with the U.S. delegation. Minister Lavrov noted that the United States has begun to better understand Russia's position.
According to TASS and Reuters, Minister Lavrov met with the U.S. delegation, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, for about 4 hours and 30 minutes in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After the meeting, he evaluated in a press conference that "the dialogue was very beneficial. Both sides sincerely listened to each other."
He continued, "I have reason to believe that the U.S. side has a better understanding of our position" and explained that he elaborated on Russia's stance during the meeting.
Minister Lavrov said he explained to the U.S. side that "the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Ukraine's accession to NATO are direct threats to the interests and sovereignty of the Russian Federation."
He also noted from Russia's perspective that the deployment of NATO member country troops in Ukraine would be unacceptable, regardless of what flags they carry. European NATO member states have claimed that they should deploy peacekeeping forces to Ukraine following the end of hostilities to ensure security.
Regarding the improvement of U.S.-Russia relations, Minister Lavrov mentioned that Russia and the United States agreed to normalize the operation of embassies in each country, stating that the Russian ambassador to the U.S. and the U.S. ambassador to Russia would be appointed promptly.
He added that there was a strong interest in removing artificial barriers that hinder the development of reciprocal economic cooperation, suggesting that the United States might ease sanctions imposed on Russia. He explained that both Russia and the United States would work to create conditions for the resumption of comprehensive cooperation.
Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin's foreign policy aide who attended the meeting, said in an interview with Russian state television that the talks were "not bad" and that "we had serious discussions on all the issues we wanted to address."
In particular, he stated, "We agreed to consider each other's interests. At the same time, both Russia and the United States decided to promote bilateral relations of mutual interest."
Regarding the end of the Ukraine conflict, he stated that "a separate negotiating team agreed to make contact at an appropriate time" and mentioned that the day was spent explaining Russia's principled position and discussing it.
On the formation of the negotiating teams, he said, "The U.S. will designate its representatives, and we will designate ours," explaining that President Vladimir Putin would decide on Russia's negotiating representatives based on the names of U.S. representatives.
Regarding the prospect of President Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump possibly holding a summit next week, he replied, "I don't think so" and "it is too early to say specific dates."