Three Americans and two Russians made up the two teams at the talks in Saudi Arabia that have underscored an end to Western isolation of Moscow. The men described the meeting as preparing the groundwork for broader "high-level" talks and agreed to reset their countries' diplomatic relations.

Ahead of the talks in Riyadh, Russian officials said they aimed for a “normalization” of relations with the United States, even suggesting that American oil companies could return to Russia. Yury Ushakov,

Formal, tense and laced with distrust, the highly anticipated Saudi-hosted talks between the United States and Russia on Tuesday carried all the hallmarks of a major diplomatic showdown.