Russia and the US decide to move forward with their effort to end the war in talks without Ukraine

As Moscow made a significant new demand and Kyiv and its European allies watched with apprehension from the sidelines, the United States and Russia decided in Riyadh on Tuesday to move on with attempts to end the war in Ukraine, according to a U.S. official.

The two parties decided to designate “respective 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,” according to U.S. State Department spokesman Tammy Bruce.

Following discussions that lasted over four hours, Russian negotiator Yuri Ushakov told reporters, “It was a very serious conversation on all the questions we wanted to touch upon.”

The leaders of Ukraine and Europe fear that President Donald Trump may make a rash agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin that disregards their security concerns, rewards Moscow for its invasion, and gives Putin carte blanche to attack Ukraine or other nations in the future.

Russia indicated that its demands were becoming more stringent even while the summit in the Saudi capital got underway.

It is “not enough” for NATO to exclude Ukraine from membership, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters in Moscow. The alliance must go farther, she argued, by renouncing a 2008 Bucharest summit pledge that Kyiv would join at an undisclosed later date.

“Otherwise, this problem will continue to poison the atmosphere on the European continent,” she added. Ukraine, NATO countries, and the United States did not immediately respond.

NATO membership is the only way to ensure Kyiv’s sovereignty and independence from its nuclear-armed neighbor, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has repeatedly called for it.

In a statement, U.S. spokeswoman Bruce said: “President Trump wants to put an end to the slaughter; the United States wants peace and is using its global influence to unite nations. The only international leader who can persuade Russia and Ukraine to accept that is President Trump.

According to her, the two sides also decided to discuss in order to resolve “irritants” in their bilateral ties, which the Kremlin characterized as “below zero” during the previous Joe Biden administration in the United States.

Conditions for a meeting between Trump and Putin were addressed, but Ushakov stated that it was unlikely to take place next week, according to the Interfax news agency.

Six days after Trump’s phone conversation with Putin and less than a month after taking office, the discussions in Saudi Arabia, which maintains cordial relations with both nations, highlighted the swiftness of U.S. attempts to stop the conflict.

By denying Ukraine membership in NATO and claiming that Kyiv’s ambition to reclaim all of its lost land is a myth, Trump’s team has reportedly made significant compromises ahead of time, according to critics. U.S. authorities claim that they are only acknowledging reality.

According to Ukraine, no peace agreement can be made on its behalf. Last week, Zelenskiy stated, “As a sovereign nation, we simply will not be able to accept any agreements without us.”