Marco Rubio, Mike Waltz lay groundwork for Ukraine peace with Russia

Two Florida men are playing a key role in attempting to end the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

According to a readout from the Office of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, he and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Saudi Arabia.

Special Envoy Ambassador Steve Witkoff was also on hand, as was Russian Aide to the President Yuri Ushakov.

State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce cautioned that this was just a preliminary step in drawing down the conflict in the wake of a call last week between President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

“One phone call followed by one meeting is not sufficient to establish enduring peace. We must take action, and today we took an important step forward,” Bruce said.

However, the readout from the State Department suggests progress was made.

The United States and Russia agreed to a “consultation mechanism to address irritants to our bilateral relationship with the objective of taking steps necessary to normalize the operation of our respective diplomatic missions.”

The two parties will also facilitate “respective high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible in a way that is enduring, sustainable, and acceptable to all sides.”

Furthermore, “the groundwork for future cooperation on matters of mutual geopolitical interest and historic economic and investment opportunities which will emerge from a successful end to the conflict in Ukraine” will be established.

Finally, Russia and the U.S. “pledge to remain engaged to make sure the process moves forward in a timely and productive manner.”

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