The talks between Russia and the US chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Foreign Minister Marco Rubio on February 18 ended after about 4.5 hours in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The bilateral talks went well, according to senior assistant to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mr. Yuri Ushakov.
According to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, Ushakov told reporters after the meeting: "There was a very serious discussion on every issue we wanted to raise."
According to Mr. Ushakov, the two sides agreed to consider each other's interests and promote bilateral relations, and Moscow and Washington will try to arrange a meeting between the leaders of both sides.
However, the summit between President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump is unlikely to take place next week as it requires in-depth meetings first.
The US State Department called the February 18 meeting in Saudi Arabia an "important step forward" when Secretary of State Lavrov and Secretary of State Rubio agreed to establish high-level negotiation groups to discuss a solution to the conflict in Ukraine "as soon as possible in a sustainable, long-term manner and accepted by all parties".
US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters after the talks that: "The United States wants to end the deadly epidemic and is using its power in the world to unite countries."
However, before the meeting of Russian and US officials, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky noted that any peace talks in Ukraine without the participation of Kiev would "not bring any results".
In addition to the working groups, Washington and Moscow agreed to establish a consultation mechanism to resolve bilateral relations problems with the "goal of taking the necessary steps to normalize the operations of corresponding diplomatic missions" and " laying the foundation for future cooperation on issues of mutual concern related to geopolitics and historic economic and investment opportunities".
After the meeting, Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev - General Director of Russia's Direct Investment Fund - told Reuters that US and Russian officials had private discussions on future economic cooperation.
As soon as the talks in Riyadh ended, an airstrike warning was issued in Kiev due to the threat from Russian ballistic missiles.
While Russia and the US discussed Ukraine, President Zelensky was in Turkey to inaugurate the newly renovated Ukrainian Embassy in Ankara and meet with Turkish President Putin on February 18.
