Trump calls US-Russia talks in Riyadh 'very good'

US President Donald Trump has described the joint talks between the Russian and US delegations in Saudi Arabia as "very good".

"Much more sure, [the talks] were very good. <...> Russia wants to do something. They want to stop the savage barbarism," the US president said during a press conference in the state of Florida.

He also pointed to the unpopularity of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (term expired May 20, 2024) as the country's representative on the international stage and said Kiev needs to hold a presidential election to earn a seat at the negotiating table.

"I would say that, you know, when [Ukraine] wants a seat at the table, you could say that people should say, you know, it's been a long time since we've had elections," the American leader emphasized.

At the same time, Trump recalled that the US allocates hundreds of billions of dollars to Ukraine without a "transparent report" on their use.

Listening and hearing each other. How the meeting with the US delegation ended

Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the last meeting in Riyadh allowed to "lay the groundwork" for the development of further dialog between the US and Russia. He also shared plans for further work on geopolitical and economic cooperation between the two countries, which may emerge after the end of the conflict.