US-Russia talks begin in Saudi, no seat for     Ukraine


        The Russian president's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov and Russia's Foreign Minister          Sergei Lavrov attend a meeting with the US Middle East envoy, Secretary of State, and                National Security Advisor, and with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister and National Security          Advisor together at Riyadh's Diriyah Palace on February 18, 2025


Top US and Russian diplomats were meeting in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for talks on resetting their countries’ fractured relations and making a tentative start on trying to end the Ukraine war.

Both sides played down the chances that the first high-level meeting between the countries since US President Donald Trump took office would result in a breakthrough.

Still, the very fact the talks were taking place has triggered concern in Ukraine and Europe following the United States’ recent overtures towards the Kremlin.

Reporters in Riyadh said the meeting between US and Russian diplomats began in the morning at the Saudi capital’s Diriyah Palace.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv was not invited to the discussions in Riyadh. European leaders met in Paris on Monday for emergency talks on how to respond to the radical pivot by the new Trump administration.