US, Russian officials intend to meet in Ukraine peace talks without Kiev – State
The Kremlin said on Monday that senior U.S. and Russian officials, including top diplomats in these countries, will hold talks on improving ties and negotiating an end to the Ukrainian war. About three years ago, the scale of its neighbors invaded.
Talks scheduled for Tuesday in Saudi Arabia mark another outcome of the Trump administration to reverse U.S. policy of quarantine Russia and to serve as a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin Pave the way.
The moves have left Kiev and key allies scrambling to secure a seat on the table in fears that Washington and Moscow might not be conducive to their deals. France convened an emergency meeting between EU countries and Britain on Monday to decide how to resolve the U.S. diplomatic blitzkrieg in the war.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov will be on the same day Fly to the Saudi capital later. Secretary of State Tammy Bruce said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will Meet with the Russian delegation. Ukraine will not participate.
Peskov said the negotiations will focus mainly on “a complex that restores the entire U.S.-Russian relationship and prepares for possible negotiations on Ukrainian settlements and organizes meetings of the two presidents.”
Witkov said on Fox News' “Sunday Morning Future” plan that he and Waltz will “meet in the president's direction” and hope to “make some good progress in Russia-Ukraine”.
Witkov did not directly answer questions about whether Ukraine must abandon “important parts” of its territory, which is part of a solution to any negotiation. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that NATO Ukraine’s membership is unrealistic and suggested that Kiev should give up hope to win all its territory from Russia, two key items on Putin’s wish list .
Negotiations will mark a significant expansion of US-Russia contacts, a war that has been in the war for nearly three years and has reached its lowest level for decades. Lavrov and then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony briefly talked about the bystander of the G-20 meeting held in India about two years ago. They chatted for about 10 minutes, with no sign of any movement to relieve tension at the time. In the fall of 2022, the gap between the United States and Russia meets in Türkiye.
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Tuesday's talks came after a call between Trump and Putin last week, with the U.S. president saying they “agree to let our respective teams start negotiations immediately.” The years after the call for US policy rose, ending the isolation of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. After the call, Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to inform him of their conversation.
Trump told reporters on Sunday that Zelenskyy “will be involved in it” without elaborating. Zelenskyy said on Monday that his country was not invited to the upcoming talks and that if Ukraine did not attend, the results would not be accepted.
In a conference call with journalists in the United Arab Emirates, Zelenskyy said that the U.S.-Russia negotiations would “produce no results” given that there were no Ukrainian officials. Ukraine is part of any peace negotiations in the bedrock of U.S. policy led by Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden.
Zelenskyy said he will travel to Türkiye on Monday and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, but his trip to the Arab country has nothing to do with talks in the United States and Russia. Zelenskyy's top adviser Andriy Yermak has said that representatives of Ukraine and Russia directly met directly with the situation of “making plans” to end the war and achieving “just peace”.
EU officials struggle to win a say in any Ukrainian peace talks, and Zelenskyy and his officials insist that Europe needs to appear in negotiations.
When asked about possible roles in Europe, Lavrov felt disdainful on Monday, saying: “I don't know what they are going to do in the negotiations.”
Zelenskyy also confirmed that General Keith Kellogg, who retired from Trump's special envoy to Russia and Ukraine, will arrive in Kiev on February 20 for “a broad dialogue on security assurance.”
Zelenskyy said he wanted to take Kellogg to the frontline and hopes that Americans can learn from his trip back to the White House from Ukraine, adding: “I think we will know what after he returns to the United States.” I will meet with President Trump.”
Zelenskyy said the possibility of opening up its country's mineral resources to the United States, as Trump suggested, may require a written agreement on Ukraine's security guarantee. Ukraine and several European countries insist that Russia could invade the country again without security guarantees, even if it reached a settlement.
Zelenskyy said the guarantees could include NATO membership, where Heggs poured cold water on it, weapons and financial support.
Ukraine also expressed hope to join the EU, but this is complicated and may take years.
– Reports from Kyiv, Ukraine, and Hatton, Hatton, Portugal.
& Copy 2025 Canadian Press
