The below is attributable to Spokesperson Tammy Bruce:

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met withRussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today as a follow up to President Donald Trump’s conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 12. Secretary Rubio was joined by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Special Envoy Ambassador Steve Witkoff, the team chosen by President Trump to reestablish the bilateral relationship. Foreign Minister Lavrov was joined by Russian Aide to the President Yuri Ushakov.

President Trump wants to stop the killing; the United States wants peace and is using its strength in the world to bring countries together.  President Trump is the only leader in the world who can get Ukraine and Russia to agree to that.

We agreed to:

• Establish a consultation mechanism to address irritants to our bilateral relationship with the objective of taking steps necessary to normalize the operation of our respective diplomatic missions.

• Appoint respective high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible in a way that is enduring, sustainable, and acceptable to all sides.

• Lay the groundwork for future cooperation on matters of mutual geopolitical interest and historic economic and investment opportunities which will emerge from a successful end to the conflict in Ukraine.

• The parties to today’s meetings pledge to remain engaged to make sure the process moves forward in a timely and productive manner.

One phone call followed by one meeting is not sufficient to establish enduring peace. We must take action, and today we took an important step forward.

We would like to thank the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for hosting under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.