US and Russian delegations complete first talks

Yuriy Ushakov denied information from Western media that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin could meet as early as next week.

The first direct talks between the US and Russian delegations on ending the war in Ukraine have concluded in the Saudi Arabian city of Riyadh, Vladimir Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov said on the air of Russia's Channel One on Tuesday, February 18.

According to him, during the negotiations, "the Ukrainian issue was raised."

"Yes, we discussed (this topic - ed.) and outlined our principled approaches and agreed that separate teams of negotiators on this topic will enter into contact in due course," Ushakov said.

Ushakov clarified when, in his opinion, this time will come.

"The Americans should appoint their representatives, and we will appoint ours and then, probably, the work will go on," he said.

At the same time, he denied information from Bloomberg that the leaders of the US and Russia could meet as early as next week.

"This issue has been discussed, we will work to create conditions for such a meeting," Ushakov admitted.

He did not speak about the temporal prospects of such a meeting, but commenting on information that it could take place next week, he said: "That's unlikely."

Answering a clarifying question about whether Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin could meet by the end of February, Ushakov said: "Dense work is needed by the delegations of the two countries. We are ready for this, but it is too early to talk about a specific period, specific dates for the leaders' meeting."