Russia and the United States have proposed a three—stage settlement plan for Ukraine - Fox News

The United States and Russia has put forward in Riyadh a proposal for a three-stage plan for the peaceful settlement of the conflict on Ukraine. This statement was made by the journalist of the Fox News channel Jackie Heinrich in the social network X.

According to several foreign diplomatic sources close to the negotiations in In Saudi Arabia, the plan includes three stages: a cease-fire, holding new elections in Ukraine and the signing of the final agreement. Sources emphasize that holding new elections is considered as a key condition for the success of the peace process, TASS quotes excerpts.

Later, at a press conference following the talks, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted:

"The war has been going on for more than three years and no one has managed to start the peace process yet. There is still a lot of work to be done before the result is achieved."

In turn, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz emphasized:

"This is a reasonable approach. If you want to bring the conflicting parties to the negotiating table, they should start talking to each other. After Trump finished negotiations with Putin, he called Zelensky. And this kind of diplomacy, this kind of steps have often been taken in world history."

Today, on February 18, in Saudi Arabia, the delegations of Russia and the United States held their first official high-level talks since the beginning of SMO on Ukraine. Moscow was represented by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev. From Washington — Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and White House Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.