Senior US and Russian officials will hold talks on ending the war in Ukraine, officials said, in what would be the most significant meeting between the sides since Moscow’s invasion nearly three years ago.
The meeting, part of talks on improving ties between the two superpowers, is scheduled for Tuesday in Saudi Arabia and marks another pivotal step by the Trump administration to reverse US policy on isolating Russia, and is meant to pave the way for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The recent US diplomatic blitz on the war has sent Kyiv and key allies scrambling to ensure a seat at the table amid concerns that Washington and Moscow could press ahead with a deal that will not be favourable to them.
France called an emergency meeting of European Union countries and the UK on Monday to decide how to respond.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and President Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov set off for the Saudi capital on Monday, according to Russian state TV.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and special envoy Steve Witkoff will meet the Russian delegation, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.
Ukraine will not participate in the talks. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that his country had not been invited and would not accept the outcome if Kyiv does not take part.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the talks will be primarily focused on “restoring the entire range of US-Russian relations, as well as preparing possible talks on the Ukrainian settlement and organising a meeting of the two presidents”.
Ms Bruce said the meeting is aimed at determining how serious the Russians are about wanting peace and whether detailed negotiations can be started.
“I think the goal, obviously, for everyone is to determine if this is something that can move forward,” she told reporters travelling with Mr Rubio in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
She added that even though Ukraine would not be at the table for Tuesday’s talks, peace negotiations would only take place with Ukraine’s involvement. Kyiv’s participation in any peace talks was a bedrock of US policy under Mr Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden.
Speaking on Sunday, Mr Witkoff did not directly respond to a question about whether Ukraine would have to give up a “significant portion” of its territory as part of any negotiated settlement.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that Nato membership for Ukraine was unrealistic and suggested Kyiv should abandon hope of winning all its territory back from Russia — two key items on Mr Putin’s wish list.
The talks would mark a significant expansion of US-Russian contacts, nearly three years into a war that has seen ties fall to the lowest level in decades.
Mr Lavrov and then-US secretary of state Antony Blinken talked briefly on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in India nearly two years ago, but tensions increased in the months that followed.
Tuesday’s talks will follow a telephone call between Mr Trump and Mr Putin in which the former said they “agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately”.
The call upended years of US policy, ending the isolation of Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine on February 24 2022. After the call, Mr Trump phoned Mr Zelensky to inform him about the conversation.
The US leader on Sunday told reporters that Mr Zelensky “will be involved” but did not elaborate.
The US-Russia talks would “yield no results”, given the absence of any Ukrainian officials, Mr Zelensky said on a conference call with journalists from the United Arab Emirates.
He said he would travel to Turkey on Monday and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, but that his trip to the Arab nation was unrelated to the US-Russia talks.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
