US, Russia agree to start push towards peace in Ukraine, State Dept says

RIYADH: The United States and Russia agreed on Tuesday to address "irritants" to the U.S.-Russia relationship and begin working on a path to end Russia's war in Ukraine, the State Department said, making clear the effort was in its early stages.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met for 4.5 hours with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Saudi Arabia as a follow-up to U.S. President Donald Trump's telephone call with Russia President Vladimir Putin last week.

They discussed establishing a mechanism to address "irritants to our bilateral relationship" with the goal of normalizing diplomatic relations, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a statement.

The two sides also appointed high-level teams to work on ending the Ukraine conflict "as soon as possible in a way that is enduring, sustainable, and acceptable to all sides," she said.

The State Department said the meeting was an important step in an incipient process.

"One phone call followed by one meeting is not sufficient to establish enduring peace," Bruce said.