US, Russia to meet again tomorrow in Istanbul, Lavrov says

U.S. and Russian officials will meet for a second round of Ukraine peace talks on Feb. 27 to discuss the reopening of embassies, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.

"Such a meeting will take place tomorrow in Istanbul. I think that its results will show how quickly and effectively we can move forward," he said in comments reported by Russian state media.

Lavrov also said that Russia will not allow the deployment of European peacekeepers in Ukraine.

The first round of talks on Feb. 18 in Saudi Arabia marked the first direct negotiations between the U.S. and Russia since Moscow's full-scale invasion began, with Russia's delegation, led by Lavrov, sitting down with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other officials.

Ukraine was not invited to participate

Following the initial meeting, Rubio outlined three main objectives both sides had agreed to pursue.

These include restoring embassy staff in Washington and Moscow, creating a high-level team to facilitate Ukraine peace talks, and exploring ways to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries.

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Elsewhere, an agreement between Kyiv and Washington regarding Ukraine's critical minerals and natural resources will grant Ukraine "military equipment and the right to fight on," U.S. President Donald Trump said on Feb. 25.

President Volodymyr Zelensky's office confirmed on Feb. 25 that the U.S. and Ukraine had reached an agreement regarding Ukraine's critical minerals after an intense period of negotiations.

Speaking to reporters from the Oval Office of the White House, Trump said that the agreement gave Ukraine billions of dollars in aid and "lots of equipment."

The deal gives Ukraine "military equipment and the right to fight on, and originally, the right to fight," Trump said.

He also said he was open to striking a deal on critical minerals with Russia.

"I'd like to buy minerals on Russian land too if we can," he said.

"The rare earth, they have very good rare earth ... It's great for Russia too, because we could do deals there. They have very valuable land that isn't utilized, so something like that could take place."

Trump denied having spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding U.S. access to critical minerals in Russian-occupied Ukrainian lands.

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