teams to negotiate end of Ukraine war in talks that excluded Kyiv full news
The senior officials from the United States and Russia met jointly in Riyadh Saudi Arabia on February 18, 2025 to discuss peace strategies for Ukraine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov directed the meeting at Riyadh which avoided Ukrainian participation. The two involved parties formed multifunctional teams of senior officials who committed to resolving the war with a full comprehensive solution that both sides could accept.
These discussions fail to include the valuable participation of Ukraine which is causing serious concerns. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly criticized the negotiations because his government required a direct role in establishing a peace agreement. According to him Ukrainian involvement in negotiations about its future had to be the foundation of any talks.
Several European leaders have expressed worries about leaving Ukraine outside the diplomatic dialogue. European leaders emphasize that any peace negotiations should include Ukraine because its security demands need to be incorporated.
U.S.-Russia relations and international cooperation through the discussions in Riyadh have shown important progress to settle the Ukrainian conflict. Negotiating a peace settlement proves challenging because Ukrainian representation is not present despite the complex nature of respecting rights and aspirations during settlement discussions.
US and Russia Initiate Peace Talks on Ukraine Conflict