Putin aide says US and Russia have yet to agree on how to start Ukraine talks

MOSCOW - Mr Yuri Ushakov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy adviser, said on Feb 17 that Moscow and Washington had yet to agree on how to embark on Ukraine peace talks as the US had not yet appointed a chief negotiator to talk to Russia.

Mr Ushakov, along with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, is due to take part in bilateral talks with US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in Saudi Arabia on Feb 18 after Putin and US President Donald Trump spoke by phone last week and agreed to begin talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.

In comments broadcast on Russian state TV, Mr Ushakov said the Russian delegation was approaching the discussions with a “business-like” attitude and that its brief was clear.

The aim of the meeting was “to discuss the restoration of normal relations (with the US),to discuss the beginning of possible negotiations on Ukraine, and to discuss prospects for contacts at the highest level (between Putin and Trump),” Mr Ushakov told Channel One.

“Now the question is about agreeing on how to start negotiations on Ukraine because the American side hasn’t appointed a chief negotiator to conduct business with us,” he said.

Mr Ushakov added that Mr Kirill Dmitriev, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund chief, might join the delegation to discuss any economic questions that might arise. REUTERS

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