U.S. starts talks with Russia, but leaves Ukraine out of the conversation

Top U.S. and Russian diplomats spent more than four hours in talks on Tuesday, leaving both Ukraine and the European Union out of the start of a conversation that could have implications for continental security and the fate of the largest land war that Europe has seen in decades.

The talks occurred in the Saudi Arabia capital of Riyadh, and involved U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as well as his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, among other officials from the two countries.

And they came just days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced he'd spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a move that upended existing U.S. policy, shocked European leaders and raised questions about what may come next — including from Ukrainians. 

The U.S. president says he wants the nearly three-year-long, all-out war in Ukraine to come to an end, and he's directed U.S. officials to pursue talks to achieve that. 

Yet no one from Ukraine was present at the talks in Riyadh, and Ukrainian President Voloydmyr Zelenskyy appeared to signal his displeasure with the arrangement by saying he would postpone a trip to Saudi Arabia that was otherwise supposed to occur on Wednesday. 

Bloomberg News reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wanted Zelenskyy involved in the talks in Riyadh, but the U.S. and Russia preferred to meet without Ukraine being present.

Tymofiy Mylovanov, a former Ukrainian economy minister and close observer of the war, assessed in a post on X that Zelenskyy is plainly "pissed off" by what's happening with the U.S. and Russia and any talks that do not include Ukraine.

After the meeting in Riyadh, Rubio said Russia and the U.S. had agreed to begin working toward ending the conflict and improving the ties between Washington and Moscow. Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said there was no clear date yet for an expected meeting between the Russian leader and Trump.

Ukraine not being cut out: Rubio

Rubio also claimed that Ukraine's absence from the talks in Riyadh was not a sign that it was being cut out of a possible peace process.

"No one is being sidelined here," Rubio said. "Obviously, there's going to be engagement and consultation with Ukraine, with our partners in Europe and others. But ultimately, the Russian side will be indispensable to this effort."

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said Rubio briefed diplomats from the EU, Britain, France, Germany and Italy on the talks after they occurred.

The talks marked the most extensive contacts between the two powers since the full-scale Russian invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022. 

Zelenskyy, meanwhile, was meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Anakara.

In remarks to reporters, Erdogan said it was Turkey's position that Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty were indisputable.

The Turkish leader also offered his own country as a possible venue for any future talks between Ukraine and Russia — both of which border the Black Sea, as does Turkey.

War above Ukraine, beyond Ukraine

Talks aside, the war continued to rage on Tuesday — in both Ukraine and in parts of Russia.

The Russian defence ministry said that 21 Ukrainian drones had been downed by air defences in the span of an hour on Tuesday evening.

The Ukrainian military said Russia had launched 176 drones during an overnight attack. Officials said 103 were shot down and 67 did not reach their targets. It was not stated what happened to the remaining six drones.

Drones have been pivotal tools for both Ukraine and Russia over the past three years. Ukraine has wielded a range of aerial drones to bring the fight to Russian soil, while Russian forces have unleashed their own drone threats against Ukraine and its people.

Elsewhere in Europe

Keith Kellogg, a retired U.S. lieutenant-general and Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, is in Europe and sat down for a meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda on Tuesday.

After the two met, Duda said U.S. officials had made it clear that Washington would not reduce its troop numbers in eastern Europe.

The assurances came just days after U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Europe should invest its own defence and not assume that the U.S. will maintain a presence on the continent forever. 

Kellogg also met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier Tuesday.

Von der Leyen stressed Europe's interest in working with the U.S. to end the conflict in Ukraine, which she said was at "a critical moment," and that "any resolution must respect Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, backed by strong security guarantee."

The U.S. envoy is due to head to Ukraine, where he is expected to meet with Zelenskyy. Media reports suggest Kellogg is due to spend several days in the country.