As Ukraine remains uninvited to the key meeting in Saudi Arabia that is supposedly aimed at establishing peace between Moscow and Kyiv, the chances of lasting peace remain in the doldrums. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has already underscored that his country will “never accept” any decisions that are taken without its participation to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Why Trump wants to end the war?
Additionally, Ukraine also needs to be cognizant of the fact that if any decision is taken in their absence that impacts Kyiv's sovereignty, it may not appeal to the larger demography in the country. Notably, US President Donald Trump's explicit attempt to claim at least half of Ukraine’s rare mineral wealth as the price of alleged ongoing US support also needs to be factored in.
Meanwhile, top officials from Ukraine and Russia met on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia to improve ties and negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.
The meeting at the Diriyah Palace in Riyadh comes as a pivotal step by the Trump administration to reverse US policy on isolating Russia. The current engagement between the US and Russia is likely to pave the way for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
US, Russia hold talks in Saudi Arabia
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov arrived in the Saudi capital on Monday night. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will meet the Russian delegation, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.
Lavrov and then-US Secretary of State Antony Blinken talked briefly on the sidelines of a G-20 meeting in India nearly two years ago, and in the fall of 2022, US and Russian spymasters met in Turkiye amid Washington's concerns that Moscow could resort to nuclear weapons amid battlefield setbacks.
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 won't be favourable to them. France called an emergency meeting of European Union countries and the UK on Monday to decide how to respond.
(With inputs from AP)
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