Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated the talks between US and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia. He said the Kremlin was prepared to engage in bringing the war in Ukraine to an end. 

According to Interfax, on Wednesday, Putin lauded the first round of talks between the US and Russia before saying Moscow is willing to engage with Kiev on ending the war in Ukraine. “Yes, I have been informed. I rate them highly, there are results,” he said. “In my opinion, we made the first step to restore work in various areas of mutual interests.”

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Saudi Arabia. Rubio said the two sides agreed to normalize diplomatic relations and work to end the war in Ukraine. 

Putin explained while US involvement in talks is required, he is also willing to engage with the Ukrainians. “No one is excluding Ukraine,” he said. “We are not imposing anything on anyone. We are ready, I have already said this a hundred times – if they want, please, let these negotiations take place. And we will be ready to return to the table for negotiations.”

On Tuesday, the Kremlin said Putin would be willing to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. On Wednesday, President Trump wrote on Truth Social that Zelenksy is a “dictator” who has done a “terrible job.”

While ending the war is a top priority, both Washington and Moscow have indicated that the two superpowers have a range of issues to discuss. Arms control is at a historic low point, and talks on nuclear weapons treaties halted during the latter years of the Joe Biden presidency. The last remaining nuclear arms control agreement, the New Start Treaty, is set to expire in a year.