US and Russia launch talks on end to war, Ukraine absent

RUSSIA RAISES NEW DEMANDS BEFORE NEGOTIATION WITH US BEGINS

As European countries discuss the possibility of contributing peacekeepers to back any Ukraine peace deal, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Riyadh that Moscow would not accept deployment of NATO troops there, whatever flag they were operating under.

“Of course, this is unacceptable to us,” he said.

The comments by Lavrov and Zakharova signalled that Russia will keep pressing for further concessions in the negotiations. The opening encounter on Tuesday saw Lavrov and Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov – two veterans who have spent a combined 34 years in their current roles – negotiate with three Trump administration officials in their first month on the job.

Russia did not mention offering any concessions and US officials did not claim to have scored any in Tuesday’s meeting, leading observers to doubt whether the talks would turn into serious peace negotiations.

“So far I have seen zero evidence that Putin is willing to give one inch in order to negotiate a peace deal,” Michael McFaul, who served as US ambassador to Russia under President Barack Obama, wrote on X. “All I see instead are ideas floated by the US of concessions that Ukraine, NATO, and US are supposed to make.”