Foreign Minister Lavrov Says Russia Is Open To Meeting With The United States In Riyadh

JAKARTA - Moscow is open to considering Saudi Arabia as a venue for a live meeting of the next round of negotiations between Russia and the United States, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

This was conveyed by Foreign Minister Lavrov after a press conference with his counterpart from Saudi Arabia Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.

"We are ready to consider this friendly and friendly location, as we did in February during the Russia-US talks," Foreign Minister Lavrov said, quoted from TASS July 4.

"We believe that we and America are very comfortable there, and if new contacts are planned in the future - of course by coordinating with Washington - we will definitely remember Saudi Arabia," he added.

Foreign Minister Lavrov recalled that he and presidential aide Yury Ushakov had led the Russian delegation at Moscow-Washington talks in Riyadh, while the US delegation was led by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Foreign Minister Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.

"We did a pretty good job at the time," said Foreign Minister Lavrov.

"We report on the course of the discussion in a very specific and substantive manner, without being distracted by politicization or ideological bias," he added.

Earlier, Ushakov told reporters that negotiations to stabilize Russia-US relations - which were originally planned to be held in Moscow but were delayed indefinitely at Washington's request - are still uncertain.