In an interview with The Associated Press, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that 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 U.S. officials — marked the beginning of a conversation, and more work needs to be done down the road.
Lavrov echoed Rubio's remarks and told reporters that “the conversation was very useful.”
“We not only listened, but also heard each other,” he said.
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 in a grinding war that began nearly three years ago.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country wouldn't accept any outcome from the talks since Kyiv didn't take part — and postponed his own trip to the kingdom scheduled for Wednesday.
