Top Russian and US officials are holding talks in Saudi Arabia in a bid to improve their ties and negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov from Russia in Riyadh – marking the most significant diplomatic engagement between the countries since Russia invaded its neighbor almost three years ago.
It is meant to pave the way for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Despite the efforts to negotiate the end of the conflict, Ukrainian officials have not been invited to the initial discussions.
Last week, Trump said he had spoken with Russian president Vladimir Putin and agreed to start negotiations towards ending the conflict.
The recent US diplomatic push for Washington and Moscow to hammer out a deal together without European leaders has worried key allies that they might not get a set at the table and the result might not be in Ukraine’s, or their own, interests.
While holding his own meetings in the United Arab Emirates, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that US-Russia talks would “yield no results” without Ukrainian officials and his country won’t accept the outcome if Kyiv doesn’t take part.
It is expected that Zelenskyy will travel to Saudi Arabia later this week.
Meanwhile, UK and European leaders met on Monday for an emergency summit to discuss the war.
Following the informal talks, Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for a US “backstop” to protect Ukraine from a future Russia invasion.
He added that Britain and Europe are facing a “generational challenge when it comes to national security”.
Starmer had also previously said he would be prepared to put British troops on the ground in Ukraine if a peace deal is reached.
In an article written on Sunday, Starmer wrote: “I do not say that lightly. I feel very deeply the responsibility that comes with potentially putting British servicemen and women in harm’s way.”
“But any role in helping to guarantee Ukraine’s security is helping to guarantee the security of our continent, and the security of this country.
“The end of this war, when it comes, cannot merely become a temporary pause before Putin attacks again.”
He has also vehemently repeated Ukraine’s “irreversible” path to Nato membership in recent days despite the new US administration taking a step back from the mostly unified front it has presented throughout the war.
The Trump regime backed away from previous commitments about allowing Ukraine entry into Nato and suggested that it was unrealistic for the country to return to its pre-2014 borders.
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