Trump-Putin summit preparations underway

Preparations are underway for a face-to-face meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Russia’s deputy foreign minister said Saturday, marking a dramatic shift away from Western isolation of Moscow over its war in Ukraine.

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Speaking to Russian state media, Sergei Ryabkov said a possible Putin-Trump summit could involve broad talks on global issues, not just the war in Ukraine.

“The question is about starting to move towards normalising relations between our countries, finding ways to resolve the most acute and potentially very, very dangerous situations, of which there are many, Ukraine among them,” he said.

But he said efforts to organise such a meeting are at an early stage, and that making it happen will require “the most intensive preparatory work.”

Ryabkov added that US and Russian envoys could meet “within the next two weeks,” to pave the way for further talks between senior officials.

Russian and US representatives on Tuesday agreed to start working toward ending the war in Ukraine and improving their diplomatic and economic ties, according to the two countries’ top diplomats, at a high-level meeting in Saudi Arabia that marked an extraordinary about-face in US foreign policy under President Trump.

After the meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the AP that the the two sides agreed broadly to pursue three goals — to restore staffing at their respective embassies in Washington and Moscow; to create a high-level team to support Ukraine peace talks, and to explore closer relations and economic cooperation.

He stressed, however, that the talks — which were attended by his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and other senior Russian and US officials — marked the beginning of a conversation, and more work needs to be done.

No Ukrainian officials were present at the meeting, which came as the beleaguered country is slowly but steadily losing ground against more numerous Russian troops.

White House, Kyiv near rare metals deal

The White House and Ukraine have made significant progress toward reaching an agreement that would provide the US with access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals and tighten the long-term relationship between Kyiv and Washington, according to a person familiar with the matter. Trump earlier on Friday renewed his criticism of Zelenskyy’s handling of the three-year war. Rare earth elements are a set of 17 elements that are essential to many kinds of consumer technology, including cellphones, hard drives and electric and hybrid vehicles.