Saudi Arabia hosts US-Russia Peace Talks on Ukraine

The top diplomats from Russia and the U.S. met Tuesday in Saudi Arabia to discuss improving ties and negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine — talks that reflected a major and rapid change in American foreign policy under President Donald Trump.

No Ukrainian officials were present at the meeting, which came as the beleaguered country is slowly but steadily losing ground against more numerous Russian troops in a grinding war that began nearly three years ago. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country won’t accept any outcome from this week’s talks if Kyiv doesn’t take part. European allies have also expressed concerns they are being sidelined.

Beyond Ukraine, the meeting — attended by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other senior officials — had been expected to focus on thawing relations between the two countries, whose ties have fallen to their lowest level in decades.

In an interview with The Associated Press after the meeting, Rubio said both sides agreed to restore staffing at their respective embassies in Washington and Moscow to create missions to support Ukraine peace talks, bilateral relations and cooperation more broadly.

Both embassies have been hit hard by expulsions of large numbers of diplomats over the course of several years.

The meeting was also meant to pave the way for a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. After the talks wrapped, Putin’s foreign affairs advisor, Yuri Ushakov, told Russia’s Channel One that no date has been set yet for that summit but that it was “unlikely” to take place next week.

Concerns from allies they are being sidelined

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that the talks would be primarily focused on “restoring the entire range of U.S.-Russian relations, as well as preparing possible talks on the Ukrainian settlement and organizing a meeting of the two presidents.” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce has said the meeting was aimed at determining how serious the Russians are about wanting peace and whether detailed negotiations can be started.

After the meeting, Ushakov’s remarks suggested the two sides made little progress. Russia and the United States agreed to “take each other’s interests into account” and advance their relations. He added that it was “hard to say” that the two countries’ positions “are getting closer, but there was talk about it.”

In the wake of Moscow’s 2022 invasion, the U.S., along with European nations, imposed a raft of sanctions on Russia and the allies have repeatedly expanded the measures to damage its economy.

The recent U.S. diplomatic blitz on the war has sent Ukraine 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 favorable to them.

Kyiv’s absence at Tuesday’s talks has rankled many Ukrainians, and France called an emergency meeting of European Union countries and the U.K. on Monday to discuss the war.

Bruce has said that even though Ukraine will not be at the table Tuesday, any actual peace negotiations will include the country. Kyiv’s participation in such talks was a bedrock of U.S. policy under Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, whose administration also led international efforts to isolate Russia over the war.

Peskov on Tuesday said that Putin has repeatedly expressed readiness for peace talks, and noted that a durable settlement of the conflict in Ukraine would be impossible without “a comprehensive consideration of security issues” in Europe.

Saudi Arabia’s role

The meeting at the Diriyah Palace in the Saudi capital of Riyadh also highlights de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to be a major diplomatic player, burnishing a reputation severely tarnished by the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Saudi state media described the talks as happening at the prince’s direction. Like the neighboring United Arab Emirates, the prince has maintained close relations to Russia throughout its war on Ukraine, both through the OPEC+ oil cartel and diplomatically as well.

Saudi Arabia has also helped in prisoner negotiations and hosted Zelenskyy for an Arab League summit in 2023. Zelenskyy said he would travel to the kingdom later this week.