Politics
US and Russia to ‘normalise’ relationship and start Ukraine talks, officials say
US and Russian officials, who met for high-stakes talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, agreed to “normalise” relations between the two countries and begin discussions on the war in Ukraine, the US State Department said.
US State Secretary Marco Rubio called the meeting “the first step of a long and difficult journey.”
He added that concessions should be made on both sides but that it would be wrong to “predetermine those”.
US National Security Adviser Michael Waltz said that discussion of territory and security guarantees would “underlie” any type of talks moving forward and insisted there should be an “end” to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Both Rubio and Waltz pushed back on suggestions that European officials would be left out of negotiations, with Rubio concluding that the EU would be involved as it had “sanctions (against Russia) that have been imposed.”
Waltz, for his part, said that the US allies were being consulted “literally almost on a daily basis, and we’ll continue to do so.”
Both sides also briefly discussed a potential meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, although Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov added that such a meeting would be unlikely next week.
Overall, discussions were “not bad”, according to Ushakov. “It is still difficult to say that (the positions of Russia and the United States) are converging, but there was talk about it,” he said after the meeting.
Ushakov was present in the meeting alongside Waltz, Rubio, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
‘No agreement about us without us’
The meeting in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh was the first in-person discussion between top officials from both countries since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost three years ago.
The meeting comes as Trump upended years of foreign policy towards Russia by holding a phone call with Putin last Wednesday and declaring that both had agreed to start negotiations immediately.
A whirlwind week of speeches by US officials followed, in which it emerged that the Washington was seemingly uninterested in Ukraine’s core demands for peace — including its long-held NATO ambitions — and that European leaders would not immediately have a seat at the negotiating table.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that Kyiv would not recognise any peace agreement made without its participation.
“We cannot recognise … any agreements about us without us,” Zelenskyy said, adding that Ukraine was not made aware of the talks in Riyadh.
Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the meeting would be devoted to the “preparation of possible negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement and the organisation of a meeting between the two presidents.”
On Monday, Lavrov said Moscow would hear out its US colleagues in comments cited by the state-run Tass news agency but added that Europe had “no place at the negotiating table.”
He also said Russia had no intention of making territorial concessions to Ukraine during the peace talks, a likely sticking point between Putin and Zelenskyy.
Kyiv has insisted that any peace deal would include the full withdrawal of Russian troops from areas Moscow has seized during the invasion, as well as the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea — which Moscow annexed in 2014 — and the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Ahead of the talks, Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, who the Kremlin said might also join the meeting, said, “Good US-Russia relations are very important for the whole world. Only jointly can Russia and the US address lots of world problems, resolve global conflicts and offer solutions.”
Zelenskyy said he would also be travelling to Saudi Arabia in a video briefing on Monday, although he stressed that his visit was not linked to Russia-US peace talks.
Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, is also set to visit Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Thursday.
In response to fast-moving negotiations that seemed to be taking place without Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron convened an emergency meeting in Paris on Monday with other European leaders.
After the meeting, they vowed to continue supporting Ukraine but failed to provide concrete security guarantees, including a potential idea to send peacekeeping troops to Ukrainian territory.
Former lawmaker, Dino Melaye Esq, has raised concerns over the Senate’s reported rejection of the electronic transmission of election results.
The move, according to Melaye, is a clear endorsement of election rigging and an indication of a sinister plan to rig the 2027 elections.
In a statement on Friday, the former lawmaker criticized the Senate’s decision, stating that it undermines the credibility of the electoral process.
The African Democratic Congress, ADC chieftain, also stated that the move opens the door for electoral manipulation and fraud.
He further warned that the rejection of electronic transmission of results is a step backwards for democracy in Nigeria.
Melaye called on lawmakers and citizens to stand up against “this blatant attempt to undermine the will of the people and ensure that future elections are free, fair, and transparent”.
Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has said Nigerians have every reason to be mad at the Senate over the ongoing debate on e-transmission of election results.
Ezekwesili made this known on Friday when she featured in an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Morning Show’ monitored by DAILY POST.
DAILY POST reports that the Senate on Wednesday turned down a proposed change to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the Electoral Amendment Bill that aimed to compel the electronic transmission of election results.
Reacting to the matter, Ezekwesili said, “The fundamental issue with the review of the Electoral Act is that the Senate retained the INEC 2022 Act, Section 60 Sub 5.
“This section became infamous for the loophole it provided INEC, causing Nigerians to lose trust. Since the law established that it wasn’t mandatory for INEC to transmit electoral results in real-time, there wasn’t much anyone could say.
“Citizens embraced the opportunity to reform the INEC Act, aiming to address ambiguity and discretionary opportunities for INEC. Yet, the Senate handled it with a “let sleeping dogs lie” approach. The citizens have every reason to be as outraged as they currently are.”
Politics
Electoral act: Senate’s action confirms Nigeria ‘fantastically corrupt’, ‘disgraced’ – Peter Obi
Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has condemned the Senate’s refusal to make electronic transmission of election results mandatory, saying the move further exposes Nigeria as a fantastically corrupt and disgraced country.
Obi expressed his views in a statement shared on X on Friday, where he accused lawmakers of deliberately weakening Nigeria’s democratic process ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He explained that his reaction came after a brief pause to mourn victims of a deadly tragedy in Kwara State, where over 150 people reportedly lost their lives.
“Let us first pray for the souls of the innocent Nigerians lost in Kwara. That painful incident is why I delayed responding to the shameful development surrounding our electoral system,” he wrote.
Describing the Senate’s decision as intentional and dangerous, Obi said rejecting mandatory electronic transmission was not a simple oversight but a calculated attempt to block transparency.
“The Senate’s open rejection of electronic transmission of results is an unforgivable act of electoral manipulation ahead of 2027,” he said.
According to him, the action strikes at the heart of democracy and raises serious questions about the true purpose of governance in Nigeria.
“This failure to pass a clear safeguard is a direct attack on our democracy. By refusing these transparency measures, the foundation of credible elections is being destroyed. One must ask whether government exists to ensure justice and order or to deliberately create chaos for the benefit of a few.”
The former Anambra State governor linked the post-election controversies of the 2023 general elections to the failure to fully deploy electronic transmission of results, insisting that Nigerians were misled with claims of technical failures.
“
The confusion, disputes and manipulation that followed the 2023 elections were largely due to the refusal to fully implement electronic transmission,” he said.
He added that the so-called system glitch never truly existed.
Obi compared Nigeria’s electoral process with those of other African countries that have embraced technology to improve credibility, lamenting that Nigeria continues to fall behind.
“Many African nations now use electronic transmission to strengthen their democracy. Yet Nigeria, which calls itself the giant of Africa, is moving backwards and dragging the continent along.”
He criticised Nigeria’s leadership class, saying the country’s problems persist not because of a lack of ideas but because of deliberate resistance to meaningful reform.
“We keep organising conferences and writing policy papers about Nigeria’s challenges. But the truth is that the leaders and elite are the real problem. Our refusal to change is pushing the nation backwards into a primitive system of governance.”
Warning of the dangers ahead, Obi said rejecting electronic transmission creates room for confusion and disorder that only serves the interests of a small group.
He also recalled past remarks by foreign leaders who described Nigeria as corrupt, arguing that actions like this continue to justify those statements.
“When a former UK Prime Minister described Nigeria as ‘fantastically corrupt,’ we were offended. When former US President Donald Trump called us a ‘disgraced nation,’ we were angry. But our continued resistance to transparency keeps proving them right.”
Obi warned that Nigerians should not accept a repeat of the electoral irregularities witnessed in 2023.
“Let there be no mistake. The criminality seen in 2023 must not be tolerated in 2027.”
He urged citizens to be ready to defend democracy through lawful and decisive means, while also calling on the international community to closely monitor developments in Nigeria’s electoral process.
“The international community must pay attention to the groundwork being laid for future electoral manipulation, which threatens our democracy and development,” Obi stated.
He concluded by expressing hope that change is still possible if Nigerians take collective responsibility.
“A new Nigeria is possible but only if we all rise and fight for it.”
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