Russian delegation arrives for talks with US in Riyadh

A Russian delegation arrived at the venue of bilateral talks with the United States in Riyadh on Tuesday, February 18. The footage was published by Russian official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in her Telegram channel.

The venue for the Russian-American talks will be one of the palaces of the royal family.

Representing the Russian Federation at the meeting will be Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, as well as the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev, who is responsible for the economic aspect.

The U.S. delegation includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Donald Trump 's national security aide Mike Waltz and the U.S. leader's special envoy for the Middle East, Steven Whitkoff.

Face-to-face time: what will be discussed at the first meeting of the Russian and US delegations

And why the resumption of contacts between the two powers is so upsetting for Kiev

Lavrov and Ushakov arrived in Riyadh on Feb. 17 to participate in U.S.-Russian talks. Earlier in the day, Ushakov said that the talks would be held in a bilateral format. He added that the participants are now facing the question of how to start a dialog on the Ukrainian issue.

Dmitriev, who arrived in Riyadh ahead of the talks, emphasized that the establishment of economic contacts between Russia and the USA is extremely important for Washington, as American business has lost more than $300bn as a result of the withdrawal from the Russian market