U.S. and Russia discuss ending Ukraine war, without Kyiv

Senior U.S. and Russian delegations gathered for talks in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh on Tuesday, as the two sides began an initial round of high-stakes negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.

The talks build on last week’s phone call between President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin during which the two leaders agreed to work together toward a negotiated end to the war.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio headed the U.S. delegation with Moscow’s top diplomat, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, leading the Russian mission.

In a statement following Tuesday’s meeting, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Rubio and Lavrov had agreed to “lay the groundwork for future cooperation on matters of mutual geopolitical interest and historic economic and investment opportunities which will emerge from a successful end to the conflict in Ukraine.” Bruce also noted that the U.S. and Russia would appoint “high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible in a way that is enduring, sustainable, and acceptable to all sides.”

The U.S. team also includes national security adviser Mike Waltz and, notably, White House special envoy Steve Witkoff. Witkoff met with Russian officials in Moscow as recently as last week to negotiate a prisoner exchange that freed American schoolteacher Marc Fogel.

Exiting the talks, Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov was upbeat in noting the conversation had gone on for 4 1/2 hours. 

“It was a very serious discussion on all questions that we wanted to touch on,” said Ushakov, adding that both sides agreed better relations were in the interests of both Washington and Moscow. 

Saudi talks excluded Ukraine and European allies

The sudden U.S.-Russian detente has stunned U.S. allies in Europe and Ukraine — with both expressing fear of being sidelined in talks that determine their collective futures.

Neither was invited to participate in the Saudi talks, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed that Kyiv would not recognize any agreements made in its absence.

In advance of the talks, the Kremlin embraced the moment as a diplomatic opening for a new era in dialogue.

“From now on, we will talk about peace, not war,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in an interview that aired Sunday on state television.

Meanwhile, speaking on the eve of the Saudi meeting, Lavrov reminded that Trump and Putin in their phone call had agreed to end this “not normal period,” when Moscow and Washington refused to talk to one another.

In a sign of the new spirit of cooperation, the Kremlin confirmed Monday it had approved the unilateral release of an American caught with a small amount of cannabis in his luggage at a Moscow airport earlier this month.

During the Biden years, several Americans — including basketball star Brittney Griner and the schoolteacher Fogel — had received lengthy prison sentences for similar charges. They were among several Americans jailed by Russia on dubious charges in what the Biden administration said was a pattern of Russian “hostage diplomacy” to promote prisoner swaps.

The beginning of the end of the war

Going into the talks, Lavrov said his job was to “listen” to the American proposals and report back to the Kremlin.

State Department spokesperson Bruce similarly said the U.S. was there to determine how serious Moscow was about finding a negotiated settlement.

Yet Lavrov made clear in advance he would reject any notion of returning land annexed by Russia back to Ukraine.

“They say we should probably give territorial concessions — but what for?” said Lavrov. “So ethnic Russians who live there can be destroyed?” alluding to alleged atrocities by Ukrainian troops that have not been independently verified.

His comments come as the latest sign that, with Russian forces making gains on the battlefield, Moscow may be in little mood to compromise.

The U.S. negotiators’ work was further complicated by statements out of the White House even before the talks began.

President Trump has publicly said any peace rested on Ukraine ending its NATO ambitions and relinquishing territory seized by Moscow — in essence ceding to two key Russian demands.

Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser, tells NPR he expects Trump’s America First agenda means the U.S. president has little interest in the specific terms of a settlement.

“Trump wants to end the war,” said Markov, adding that beyond that “the only thing which Trump is concerned about is his image. He has the image of a strong guy. He shouldn’t look like a loser.”

Putin has extended an invitation for Trump to visit Moscow in the near future. The gesture has caused speculation Trump could join Putin on Red Square this May — when Russia commemorates the 80th anniversary of its victory in another war: World War II.