Rubio pointed to the need for Kiev's participation in the negotiations at later stages

The Ukrainian side will be involved in the negotiations on the settlement of the conflict after representatives of the USA and Russia start them. This was announced by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in an interview with CBS News on February 16.

He noted the recent phone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and United States leader Donald Trump, in which both sides expressed interest in ending the conflict in Ukraine. One conversation is not enough to determine how negotiations will proceed, Rubio said.

Before the negotiation process can begin, he said, the United States and Russia must set up normal operations at the embassies in Moscow and Washington.

"If these are real negotiations, <...> Ukraine will have to be involved, <...> and the Europeans will have to be involved," the secretary of state concluded.

Equation of power: Putin-Trump dialog forces the West to change positions on Ukraine

Even NATO gave a positive assessment of the leaders' contacts

Earlier in the day, it was reported that a US delegation was traveling to Saudi Arabia for talks with the Russian side. The day before, the mass media learned that Ukraine had not been invited to the upcoming talks.