The US Has Not Appointed A Running Juru, The Russia-Ukraine Peace Discussion Has Not Started

ILLUSTRATION PHOTO via Instagram @mfa_ukraine

JAKARTA - Yuri Ushakov, Russian foreign policy adviser Vladimir Putin, said Moscow and Washington had not agreed on how to initiate Ukraine's peace negotiations. This happened because the US had not yet appointed a head of negotiators to talk to Russia.

Ushakov, along with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, is scheduled to take part in bilateral talks with US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday after Putin and US President Donald Trump spoke by telephone last week and agreed to start talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.

In a statement broadcast on Russian state TV, Ushakov said the Russian delegation approached the discussion with a "business" stance and a clear directive.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss restoring normal relations with the US to discuss the initial possible negotiations regarding Ukraine, and to discuss prospects for contact at the highest level between Putin and Trump.

"Now the question is about how to start negotiations on Ukraine because the Americans have not appointed heads of negotiators to do business with us," Usakhov said.

Ushakov said Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia's state wealth fund, might join the delegation to address any economic questions that might arise.