Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump have agreed to leave behind an «absolutely anomalous» period of relations between the two countries, when there were no mutual contacts, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.

«Presidents Putin and Trump, when they spoke on the phone, agreed on the need to leave behind an absolutely anomalous period in relations between the two great powers, when they essentially did not communicate except on certain technical and humanitarian issues,» the foreign minister said during a joint press conference with his Serbian counterpart, Marco Duric.

«The presidents agreed that the dialogue must be resumed».

Lavrov said Moscow and Washington plan to resume contacts on all issues that «in one way or another can be resolved with the involvement of Russia and the United States», including the conflict in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East.

«I don’t know why have Europe at the negotiating table».

Commenting on the Russian side’s expectations for talks with the US to be held on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, Lavrov said they want to «listen» to US representatives.

As for the need for the participation of European countries in the US-Russian talks to end the conflict in Ukraine, the minister replied: «I don’t know why have them at the negotiating table».

«If [the Europeans] are going to coax out some clever ideas about freezing the conflict, while they themselves – according to their custom, character and habits – will have in mind the continuation of the war, then why invite them there?» he posited.

Earlier in the day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia will hold talks with US representatives in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. According to the spokesman, the Russian foreign minister and presidential adviser for international affairs Yuri Ushakov will travel to Riyadh on the instructions of the Russian president.

The meeting will be devoted, first and foremost, to restoring the whole complex of Russian-American relations. It will also focus on the preparation of possible negotiations on the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict and the organisation of a meeting between the presidents of Russia and the US, the spokesman said.
Zelenski: Ukraine knew nothing about the Russia-US talks and will not recognise them.

Ukraine will not take part in the talks to be held tomorrow, Tuesday, between Russia and the US in Saudi Arabia and will not recognise them, the leader of the Kiev regime, Vladimir Zelensky, said.

«Ukraine will not take [part]. Ukraine knew nothing about it. And Ukraine considers that any negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine are useless. And we cannot recognise anything or any agreement about us without us. And we will not recognise such agreements,» Zelenski told reporters.

In this context, Zelenski admitted that Moscow and Washington have «bilateral issues» to address.

During his speech, the leader of the Ukrainian regime noted that he will also pay a visit to the kingdom, adding that the trip «has no connection with the things that are happening in Saudi Arabia at the level of the representatives of the United States and Russia».

European leaders to meet for talks on Ukraine

European leaders will discuss regional security independently of the United States and possible troop deployments in Ukraine at an emergency meeting in Paris scheduled for Monday, reports the Financial Times.

«According to officials briefed on the preparations, they will discuss concrete plans to safeguard European defence independently of future US intervention, as well as how best to support Ukraine and strengthen its negotiating position,» the publication notes.

«It’s crazy how fast this is moving,» a Western official briefed on the talks told FT. «All [Europe] needs to do is give Ukraine everything it can so it can better say no to the things [the US and Russia] are shoving down its throat,» he added.

According to three of the newspaper’s interlocutors, the main focus of European leaders in Paris will be a possible deployment of European troops to Ukraine, who would be stationed behind, not over, a future ceasefire line as a «reassurance force». Germany, however, is reticent about the idea.

The reports about the meeting of European leaders follow statements by Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, who made it clear on Saturday that European countries will not have a place at the negotiating table on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. «What we don’t want to do is get into a large group discussion,» he said.