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00:00and examine both the geopolitical and economic cooperation that could result from an end
00:06to the conflict in Ukraine.
00:08Obviously, we'd have to see that conflict come to a successful and enduring end in order
00:13for that to be possible.
00:14And the last thing we agreed to is that while our teams are going to be working on all this,
00:19the four of us who were here today, the five of us that were here today, are going to remain
00:24engaged in this process to make sure that it's moving along in a productive way.
00:29What does an enduring and successful end look like?
00:31Did you present any proposals to the Russians today?
00:35Well, there are some underlying principles.
00:39This needs to be a permanent end to the war, and not a temporary end as we've seen in the past.
00:47We know just the practical reality is that there is going to be some discussion of territory,
00:55and there's going to be discussion of security guarantees.
00:59Those are just fundamental basics that will undergird and underlie any type of discussion.
01:07But I think the most important part is the President has stated his desire, his determination
01:15to end this war, to end the killing that is going on, the death and destruction that is
01:20happening as this war goes on and on, month after month after month, and the killing fields
01:28of eastern and southern Ukraine is unacceptable.
01:32It is not in the interest of either country.
01:34It's not in the interest of the world, and certainly not in the interest of the United
01:37States and Europe.
01:39So all of those things will drive the negotiations going forward.
01:43And as you can see, President Trump is determined to move very quickly.
01:49We just had a head of state phone call, the first in years, and here we are less than
01:55a week later at the highest level of the U.S. and Russian government, and we expect to continue
02:01to drive that pace to not only end the war, but then to unlock what could be very productive
02:10and stabilizing relationships going forward.
02:13You mentioned territories.
02:14Is it acceptable to the U.S. for Russia to retain any territory that is annexed since
02:19the beginning of the war in February 2022?
02:21Well, I think those are things that are – those are to be discussed, and those are things
02:27that will start and do the tough work ahead.
02:31But the important thing is that we've started that process.
02:34And what the President did not find acceptable was an endless war in Europe that was literally
02:42turning into – has turned into a meat grinder of people on both sides.
02:48So if you just think about just in a few months, President Trump has shifted the entire global
02:54conversation from not if the war is going to end, but just how it's going to end.
03:00And only President Trump can do that.
03:02And in the Oval Office less than a week ago, both President Putin and President Zelensky
03:08both said to him, only you, President Trump, could drive this war to a conclusion.
03:13What concessions do you expect?
03:16Well, again, we're not going to pre-negotiate an end to this conflict.
03:21These are the kinds of things that have to happen through hard and difficult diplomacy
03:24in closed rooms over a period of time.
03:26What's important to understand is two things.
03:28The first is the only leader in the world who can make this happen, who can even bring
03:32people together to begin to talk about it in a serious way, is President Trump.
03:36He's the only one in the world that can do that right now.
03:38The second thing I would say is that in order for a conflict to end, everyone involved in
03:42that conflict has to be okay with it, it has to be acceptable to them.
03:47But we have to understand that it's been three and a half years since there's been any sort
03:51of regularized contact between the United States and Russia, and in some cases between
03:56any of the participants in this conflict and Russia.
03:59So the goal of today's meeting was to follow up on the phone call the President had a week
04:03ago and begin to establish those lines of communication.
04:06So work remains.
04:08Today is the first step of a long and difficult journey, but an important one.
04:11And President Trump is committed to bringing an end to this conflict, as he said when he
04:15campaigned for president.
04:17And he wants it to end in a way that's fair, he wants it to end in a way that's sustainable
04:21and enduring, not that leads to another conflict in two to three years.
04:25That's not going to be easy to achieve, but he's the only one in the world that can begin
04:28that process.
04:29Donald Trump is the only leader in the world that could initiate that process.
04:33And today was the first step in that process.
04:36Is sanctions relief going to be involved in any of this normalizing or trying to more
04:41level set the relationship between the U.S. and Russia?
04:43Did the Russians bring up sanctions relief in the meeting today?
04:46Well, sanctions are all the result of this conflict.
04:49There are sanctions that were imposed as a result of this conflict.
04:52And so I would say to you that in order to bring an end to any conflict, there has to
04:57be concessions made by all sides.
04:59We're not going to predetermine what those are.
05:01We're certainly not going to negotiate this today or in a press conference for that matter.
05:06But and there are other parties that have sanctions.
05:08The European Union is going to have to be at the table at some point because they have
05:11sanctions as well that have been imposed.
05:14So but I guess the point here is the goal is, and we agreed on what the goal is, the
05:19goal is to bring an end to this conflict in a way that's fair, enduring, sustainable and
05:24acceptable to all parties involved.
05:26What that looks like, well, that's what this what the ongoing engagement is going to be
05:30all about.
05:32The Ukrainians and the Europeans have suggested they feel very sidelined about how the process
05:36has played out so far.
05:37How do you intend to address their concerns?
05:40And will they be incorporated in future meetings in a multilateral way?
05:44Well, the comment I would have on that is that for three and a half years while this
05:47conflict has raged or three years while it's raged, no one else has been able to bring
05:51something together like what we saw today, because Donald Trump is the only leader in
05:55the world that can.
05:56So no one is being sidelined here.
05:58But President Trump is in a position that he campaigned on to initiate a process that
06:02could bring about an end to this conflict and from that could emerge some very positive
06:06things for the United States, for Europe, for Ukraine, for the world.
06:10But first it begins by the end of this conflict.
06:12And so the only thing President Trump's trying to do is bring about peace.
06:14It's what he campaigned on.
06:16It's something the world should be thanking President Trump for doing.
06:19He was able he's been able to achieve what for three, two and a half, three years, no
06:22one else has been able to achieve, which which is to bring to begin this process, a serious
06:28process.
06:29Obviously, a lot of work remains before we have a result, but President Trump's the only
06:32one that can do it.
06:33Look, it's it's common sense.
06:36If you're going to bring both sides together, you have to talk to both sides.
06:40And we'll continue to remind everyone, literally within minutes of President Trump hanging
06:47up with President Putin, he called and spoke with President Zelensky.
06:52So shuttle diplomacy has happened throughout history.
06:55It's happened all over the world.
06:58We are absolutely talking to both sides.
06:59The Secretary of State just met with President Zelensky days ago, along with the vice president,
07:05seven cabinet members in Europe at the same time, really showing the importance of of
07:11engaging our allies.
07:13President Trump spoke with President Macron just yesterday.
07:17Prime Minister Starmer is coming to Washington next week.
07:20So I think we'll the facts will continue to push back on this notion that our allies haven't
07:26been consulted.
07:28They're being and they are being consulted literally almost on a daily basis.
07:33And we'll continue to do so.
07:41We did not.
07:42We did not set that date.
07:44But the two presidents talked about meeting and expect to meet.
07:49Can you take us a little bit in the room today?
07:52What was the interaction like?
07:54How would you characterize the discussions?
07:57It was positive, upbeat, constructive.
08:01Everybody there to get to the right outcome, solution based.
08:06We discussed it afterwards.
08:07We couldn't have imagined a better result after this after this session.
08:11It was very, very solid.
08:13Will you be traveling to Russia again, Mr. Whitaker?
08:16I'm not sure.
08:17But we'll make that determination in the next couple of weeks.
08:22The Europeans, Prime Minister has said the U.S. needs to back any sort of European solution
08:28to the war.
08:29Is this something that you are willing to commit to?
08:32Well, I think that's something that we'll continue to discuss.
08:35We have certainly, again, as a first principle, a European led security guarantee.
08:43We have the president.
08:45Many of us, as members of prior members of Congress ourselves, have called for the Europeans
08:51to continue to contribute to our common defense, to continue to share the burden of NATO defense.
09:00We'll continue to point out that while things have improved, starting with President Trump's
09:05first term, the fact that a third of our NATO allies still do not contribute the minimum
09:11of 2 percent of their GDP to defense a decade after that we all collectively made that agreement
09:18isn't acceptable.
09:19We have the NATO summit coming up this June.
09:22And we would expect, with the type of conflict, the type of warfare and destruction we've
09:27seen in Europe, sadly, the last several years, that we have 100 percent at the minimum and
09:33in fact are exceeding that.
09:35So look, this is a common effort.
09:39This isn't just about what the United States is going to continue to contribute and what
09:45we are going to continue to ask of the American taxpayer.
09:48We all have to make those tough decisions.
09:50We all have to contribute to our common defense, and we expect that – this to be a two-way
09:55street for our European allies.
09:57And the fact that both the United Kingdom, France, and others are talking about contributing
10:02more forcefully to Ukraine's security we think is a good thing.
10:07Did you walk away from this meeting convinced that the Russians want peace?
10:10You said it might take some time to be convinced of that.
10:12How are you seeing it now?
10:14I mean, I don't view diplomacy that way.
10:16I think diplomacy ultimately is based on actions.
10:21It's based on commitments that are kept.
10:23So I think they – I came away today convinced that they are willing to begin to engage in
10:28a serious process to determine how and how quickly and through what mechanism can an
10:35end be brought to this war.
10:36Whether we can ultimately reach that outcome will obviously depend on every side in this
10:41conflict's willingness to agree to certain things.
10:44So I think it's important to have this meeting because we haven't really had much engagement
10:48with the Russians for almost three years, and it sets the table for future conversations.
10:53How that turns out will be up to the parties and their willingness not just to make commitments
10:57but to live by them.
10:58That will be tested in the weeks to come.
11:01But I can tell you again, as I reiterate, President Trump has made it – he made it
11:05very clear during the campaign he thought this conflict needed to end.
11:08He's the only leader in the world that could have started a process that we saw here today,
11:13and this process is going to continue.
11:15And when you talk about an enduring and sustainable end of the conflict, it means one that's
11:21acceptable to everyone involved in it.
11:23And that obviously includes Ukraine but also our partners in Europe and, of course, the
11:27Russian side as well.
11:28Sorry, I didn't mean to jump in there, but I just wanted to also take a moment, I think,
11:32on behalf of all of us and the President to thank our partners in Saudi Arabia, to thank
11:38our hosts for bringing this together, and particularly the Crown Prince Mohammed bin
11:42Salman and his team.
11:44We are moving quickly, which means they moved very quickly to be such gracious hosts, and
11:52we certainly are all appreciative.
11:53Absolutely.
11:54And just a last question, will the Saudis take on a more active mediation role as these
11:58talks continue?
11:59Well, that's a decision for the Kingdom to make, but I can tell you that the Kingdom
12:03of Saudi Arabia is playing an indispensable role in making today possible.
12:07Not just hosting us, but bringing the parties together to have these conversations.
12:11I think it's something we're very grateful for, something we're very grateful for the
12:15partnership that we have with them on a host of issues, and this being one of them where
12:19we thank them for doing it.
12:21And we hope that they will, I think they've offered, and I believe that they will continue
12:25to be helpful in any way they can.
12:28Thanks.
12:29Can I just add a couple, I'll be extremely brief, but I know you're going to want to
12:30get to the point.
12:31So what is the next step now?
12:32The high-level team you mentioned is number two or number three?
12:33Yeah.
12:34So let me walk you through that.
12:35The next step is multi-track.
12:47The first next step is working through our respective teams at the diplomatic side just
12:52to ensure that our diplomatic missions can function.
12:55There's been a series of reciprocal actions taken over the last 10 years that have really
12:59diminished our ability to operate in Moscow, as an example, and they would argue their
13:03ability to operate in Washington.
13:05We're going to need to have vibrant diplomatic missions that are able to function normally
13:08in order to be able to continue these conduits.
13:11The second is a high-level team, including those who are experts on these topics at the
13:15technical side, to begin to engage with their side on parameters of what an end of this
13:21conflict would look like.
13:23And on that front, obviously, there's going to be engagement and consultation with Ukraine,
13:27with our partners in Europe and others, but ultimately the Russian side will be indispensable
13:31to this effort, and so that process will begin.
13:34And then the third is, together with those other two, is beginning to engage in identifying
13:40the extraordinary opportunities that exist, should this conflict come to an acceptable
13:46end, the credible opportunities that exist to partner with the Russians, geopolitically,
13:52on issues of common interest, and frankly, economically, on issues that hopefully will
13:56be good for the world and will also improve our relations in the long term between these
14:00two important countries.
14:02So all three of those efforts will be happening in conjunction with one another.
14:05Obviously, the diplomatic one is one we think we hope to move pretty quickly on, because
14:08this involves the treatment of our respective missions.
14:12The second one will be difficult, which is the question of Ukraine and the end of that
14:16conflict.
14:17But I think that's essential in order for the third piece to even be possible, which
14:20is our ability to work together on other geopolitical matters of common interest, and of course,
14:26some pretty unique, potentially historic economic partnerships as well.
14:31The key that unlocks the door for those opportunities, however, is the end to this conflict.
14:35In terms of when does the high-level team meet?
14:39Has there been any date set for it?
14:41There's no date set, but President Trump is, as you've seen over the last four weeks, not
14:47patient in terms of getting action.
14:49He drives, he drives hard, he wants to get things done.
14:52He's been wanting to do this, and he's moving very quickly to fulfill the promises he made
14:56to the American people when they elected him as our president.
14:58Okay.
14:59And then in terms of number one, the restoration of the diplomatic missions, you'll remember
15:05that the first big tit of the tit-for-tats was after the Streep Hall poisoning, and the
15:14U.S. under one of your predecessors, Mr. Tillerson, expelled a lot of Russian diplomats, to which
15:22they responded, and the consulate in St. Petersburg got closed down by the Russians, you guys
15:27closed down the consulate in Seattle, and several others.
15:32Are those going to reopen?
15:33Well, that's what we're going to be talking about, and ultimately, again, I'm not going
15:37to negotiate or work on that in public.
15:42That's what these channels will be about, but ultimately, the goal we need to have is
15:45we have to have some normalcy in our missions and in their ability to function.
15:50And the main embassies, even.
15:52And in the main embassies in particular.
15:53Just the main embassies, regardless of the consulates.
15:55I mean, if our diplomatic channels are broken, it's going to be very difficult to consistently
16:00engage on a host of topics, including some unrelated irritants that could derail the
16:06broader talks on Ukraine.
16:08So there has to be some improvement in the way our missions are able to work, and in
16:14the environment and space that they're given to operate in.
16:16So that's something we want to move on quickly, and it's important to set the table for the
16:21other two things that we want to do.
16:22But I think the key, really, in all of this is ultimately going to be whether an agreement
16:28can be reached with all parties involved on an acceptable resolution to the conflict in
16:33Ukraine, because if that happens, not only will the world be a better place, but I think
16:37there will be some pretty unique opportunities to work with them on areas of bilateral geopolitical
16:44interest and some very unique economic opportunities.
16:47But we have to get the Ukraine situation resolved first in a way that's acceptable to everyone.
16:51Okay, my last one.
16:53But does that mean if you get the staffs back to the normal operational level, the staffs
17:00at the embassies, that you consider the sweetball case of the Crimea annexation to be closed?
17:06They're no longer issues?
17:07Because I think you mentioned that Kirstarmer is going to be in Washington next week.
17:11I can imagine that the Brits won't be particularly pleased about that.
17:17Yeah, I'm not going to negotiate or talk through every element of the disruptions that exist
17:24or have existed in our diplomatic relations and the mechanics of it.
17:27Suffice it to say that President Trump has pledged and intends to keep his promise to
17:31do everything he can to bring an end to this conflict.
17:34We cannot do that unless we have at least some normalcy in the way our diplomatic missions
17:39operate in Moscow and in Washington, D.C.
17:42And so we need to work to improve that, and we're going to work with them to see what's
17:45possible within that context.
17:46Does that include removing Lavrov from taking or rescinding sanctions that have been imposed?
17:54We're just not at that level of conversation yet, but there'll be a number of topics that'll
17:58have to be discussed along the way.
18:01We haven't even begun that process.
18:02Today was just an agreement to begin a process to talk about those things.
18:06All right.
18:09All right.