RIYADH, Feb 19: US President Donald Trump's administration said on Tuesday it had agreed to hold more talks with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine after an initial meeting that excluded Kyiv, a departure from Washington's previous approach that rallied US allies to isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As the 4-1/2-hour meeting in the Saudi capital was underway, Russia hardened its demands, notably insisting it would not tolerate the NATO alliance granting membership to Ukraine.
Later on Tuesday, Trump said he was more confident after the talks and he would probably meet with Putin before the end of the month.
"Russia wants to do something," Trump told reporters in Palm Beach, Florida. He brushed aside Ukraine's concern about being left out of the meeting and said Kyiv should have entered talks much earlier.
"I think I have the power to end this war," said Trump.
The talks in Riyadh were the first time US and Russian officials met to discuss ways to halt the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. Ukraine has said it will not accept any deal imposed without its consent, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated "there must be no decision over the heads of Ukraine."
Even before the talks took place, some European politicians accused Trump's administration of handing free concessions to Moscow last week by ruling out NATO membership for Ukraine and saying it was an illusion for Kyiv to believe it could win back the 20% of its territory now under Russian control.
US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz told reporters in Riyadh that the war must come to a permanent end, and this would involve negotiations over territory.
"Just a practical reality is that there is going to be some discussion of territory and there's going to be discussion of security guarantees," he said.
High-level teams would begin talks on ending the conflict and would separately work to restore the countries' respective diplomatic missions in Washington and Moscow to ease the talks going forward, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
Rubio said he came away from the initial talks convinced that Russia was "willing to begin to engage in a serious process" but that reaching peace would involve concessions from all sides.
Russian officials did not mention offering any concessions and US officials did not claim to have scored any in Tuesday's meeting, leading observers to doubt whether the talks would turn into serious peace negotiations.
Addressing Ukrainian and European concerns, Rubio said no one was being sidelined and any solution must be acceptable to all parties.
Rubio later spoke to the top diplomats of France, Germany, Italy, Britain and the EU to brief them on the talks, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.
Both sides said no date had been set for a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which both men say they want.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he had postponed a visit to Saudi Arabia planned for Wednesday until next month. Sources familiar with the matter said the decision was made to avoid giving "legitimacy" to the US-Russia talks.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump could meet this month, although the first face-to-face encounter between a Russian and a US leader since 2021 could take longer to prepare, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.
Trump said on Tuesday he would probably meet Putin this month and dismissed Ukraine's concern about being left out of US-Russian talks in Saudi Arabia, while suggesting Kyiv could have reached a deal with Russia earlier.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the meeting in Riyadh was focused mostly on Russian-US bilateral ties but that it was a "very, very important step" towards reaching a settlement on the Ukraine war, nearing the end of its third year. —REUTERS
