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.
Politics
Engineers Farouk Ahmed, Gbenga Komolafe resign, President Tinubu nominates successors to the Senate for approval
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve the nominations of two new chief executives for the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The requests followed the resignation of Engineer Farouk Ahmed of the NMDPRA and Gbenga Komolafe of the NUPRC. Both officials were appointed in 2021 by former President Buhari to lead the two regulatory agencies created by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
To fill these positions, President Tinubu has written to the Senate, requesting expedited confirmation of Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as CEO of NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as CEO of NMDPRA.
The two nominees are seasoned professionals in the oil and gas industry.
Eyesan, a graduate of Economics from the University of Benin, spent nearly 33 years with the NNPC and its subsidiaries. She retired as Executive Vice President, Upstream (2023–2024), and previously served as Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy at NNPC from 2019 to 2023.
Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed, born in 1957 in Gombe, graduated from Ahmadu Bello University in 1981 with a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering. He was announced today as an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.
His prior roles include Managing Director of Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and Nigerian Gas Company, as well as Chair of the boards of West African Gas Pipeline Company, Nigeria LNG subsidiaries, and NNPC Retail.
He also served as Group Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer, Gas & Power Directorate, where he provided strategic leadership for major gas projects and policy frameworks, including the Gas Masterplan, Gas Network Code, and contributions to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
Engineer Mohammed played a pivotal role in delivering key projects such as the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline Expansion, the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline, and Nigeria LNG Train.
President Bola Tinubu felicitates Senator Ifeanyi Godwin Ararume, astute politician and accomplished businessman, on his birthday, December 16.
Senator Ararume’s odyssey in politics began in the late 1980s, when he served as the State Treasurer of the Liberal Convention in old Imo State. He later joined the National Finance Committee of the defunct National Republican Convention.
He represented Imo North in the 9th National Assembly. He was first elected in May 1999 and re-elected in April 2003. He also served on several committees and held other official roles.
President Tinubu commends the former senator for his years of service to the nation and contributions to its peace, unity, and progress.
The President describes Senator Ararume as a resolute and shrewd politician, highlighting his courageous and remarkable political journey through the years.
President Tinubu wishes Senator Ararume a happy 67th birthday and prays that God Almighty will grant him more years of good health and strength.
Politics
Ndigbo are no longer spectators in the Nigerian project- Minister Dave Umahi dismisses calls for Biafra under Tinubu’s administration
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, says the all-inclusive style of governance being practiced by President Bola Tinubu has made the agitation for Biafra an unnecessary clamour.
While speaking at the inspection of the Enugu-Anambra road last Saturday, December 13, Umahi said the Tinubu administration had given Ndigbo what they had sought for decades, not through secession, but through what he described as unprecedented inclusion in national governance and development.
He explained that the agitation for Biafra was historically driven by neglect, exclusion and underrepresentation at the federal level, but insisted that the situation had changed under the current administration.
“When a people are fully integrated, respected and empowered within the structure of the nation, the dream they once chased through agitation has already been achieved through cooperation.
The push for Biafran secession over the years was borne out of neglect, exclusion and underrepresentation but today the narrative has changed dramatically under President Bola Tinubu.
The President has deliberately opened the doors of national development to the South-East. Appointments, policy inputs and infrastructure priorities now reflect true federal balance.
Every sector now bears visible Igbo footprints. The emergence of Igbo sons and daughters in strategic positions is a testament to this inclusion.
Biafra was never about breaking Nigeria; it was about being counted in Nigeria. Through inclusion, equity and concrete development, Ndigbo are no longer spectators in the Nigerian project; they are co-authors of its future. When justice finds a people, agitation loses its voice.”he said
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