After meeting with Russian negotiators to discuss the future of the war in Ukraine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio signaled a dramatic reset in relations with the Kremlin, trumpeting “the incredible opportunities that exist to partner with the Russians.”
Hours later, though, Mr. Rubio sought to reassure nervous European allies that the talks did not represent an abrupt departure from American policies, as many feared.
Rather, the talks this week in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, were meant as a first step in a process, a test of whether the Kremlin was serious about making a deal, Mr. Rubio said in a call with several European diplomats.
European officials were not sure what to make of Mr. Rubio’s measured assessment, which came as leaders on the continent struggled to make sense of the apparent renewal of the relationship between Washington and Moscow.
Mr. Rubio told the Europeans that no, the Trump administration had no plans to impose the terms of any bilateral agreement with Russia on Ukraine and Europe, according to a summary of the call prepared by European officials.
No, he said, the administration would not lift U.S. sanctions on Russia absent a noticeable change in Moscow’s behavior, though he left the door open to easing some sanctions in limited ways if the Russians began taking steps that the administration was seeking.
And yes, Mr. Rubio said, the Trump administration was cleareyed that Russia could be attempting to use the talks to sow divisions in the West or to ease its isolation on the international stage, according to the summary, which was reviewed by The New York Times.
The State Department did not respond to a request for comment on Mr. Rubio’s discussion with the Europeans.
On Wednesday, President Emmanuel Macron of France called for a second emergency meeting in Paris to hammer out a strategy amid growing fears that the United States would abandon its decades-long role in providing for European security.
After years of working to isolate the Kremlin following its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the White House under President Trump has appeared to flip the script.
In the 24 hours after the meeting in Riyadh wrapped up, Mr. Trump made a series of demands and false statements that appeared to embrace the worldview of Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, while blaming Ukraine for the war.
He called President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine a dictator, and falsely declared that Kyiv somehow tricked the United States into supporting it in a war that Ukraine’s leaders started.
He also mocked Ukrainians’ complaints that their country, having sacrificed tens of thousands of lives to preserve its independence, had been left out of negotiations about its future.
“I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat,” Mr. Trump said on Tuesday, speaking to reporters at Mar-a-Lago, his estate in Florida. “Just a half-baked negotiator could have settled this years ago without, I think, without the loss of much land, very little land. Without the loss of any lives.”
At no point did Mr. Trump criticize Mr. Putin, who, in fact, started the war by invading Ukraine.
After meeting with Russian officials for more than four hours in Riyadh on Tuesday, Mr. Rubio provided few details publicly about what was achieved. He said Russia and the United States had agreed to work on a peace settlement for Ukraine, lauding Mr. Trump as “the only leader in the world” who could have pulled off such a rapprochement between longtime adversaries.
One of his partners in the American delegation, Steve Witkoff, the Middle East envoy and a longtime friend of Mr. Trump, described the meeting as “positive, upbeat, constructive.”
Mr. Rubio’s message to European officials after the meeting in Riyadh was more nuanced and conciliatory, according to the summary of the call, which included officials from Britain, France, Germany and Italy.
Part of the call was devoted to explaining why the Ukrainians and the Europeans were not included in the talks.
It was not, Mr. Rubio said, because the United States was sidelining its allies, as Mr. Trump’s remarks may have suggested. Rather, he said, much of the conversation had centered on bilateral issues between the United States and Russia. This included opening a discussion about lifting restrictions on their embassies, which have been effectively shuttered in both countries because of the many diplomats who have been expelled.
Negotiations between U.S. and Russian officials over removing these diplomatic restrictions would serve as a first test of Russia’s intentions, Mr. Rubio explained. Failure to successfully negotiate over the embassies, he said, would show that the Kremlin was not serious about negotiating an end to the Ukraine war.
Mr. Rubio told the Europeans that he was unable to say, based on that one meeting, whether the Russians were serious about making a deal. But he said they had given enough of an indication that they might be to warrant further discussions.
Mr. Rubio ended the call, according to the summary, by promising to keep America’s allies informed and by urging unity.
