American and Russian diplomats have begun talks in the Saudi capital, aiming to find a solution to the war in Ukraine.
The meeting comes a day after an emergency summit of European leaders in Paris, held in response to the continent being sidelined by the Trump administration.
President Trump shocked European allies and Kyiv by holding a direct telephone conversation with Russia’s Vladimir Putin last week. Since then, the pace of developments has been frenetic, though question marks remain over the objectives of Tuesday’s talks.
U.S. officials have said the meeting is about sounding out Moscow’s intentions to find a solution, while the Russian delegates have said the talks are aimed at normalizing relations between the two former Cold War rivals.
Another stated aim of the discussions is to set up a face-to-face meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron said he has spoken to both President Trump and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to brief them on Monday’s talks in Paris.
Although the specific topics of the Paris talks remain unknown, Macron posted on X after the meeting: “We seek a strong and lasting peace in Ukraine. To achieve this, Russia must end its aggression, and this must be accompanied by strong and credible security guarantees for the Ukrainians. Otherwise, there is a risk that this ceasefire will end up like the Minsk agreements.
“We will work on this together with all Europeans, Americans, and Ukrainians. This is the key,” Macron wrote.
He also said Europe must invest more in its own defense, a key issue for Trump.
After bringing together several European leaders, I have just spoken with President @realDonaldTrump and then with President @ZelenskyyUa.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) February 17, 2025
We seek a strong and lasting peace in Ukraine. To achieve this, Russia must end its aggression, and this must be accompanied by strong…
The U.S. is represented in Riyadh by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz and Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
On the Russian side are Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy adviser to Putin, as well as Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund.
Dmitriev told journalists in Riyadh before the meeting that Moscow sees the Trump administration as “problem solvers” who have “already addressed a number of big challenges very swiftly, very efficiently and very successfully,” Reuters reported.
