Russia and U.S. begin talks on ending the war in Ukraine, but Europe can’t agree a peacekeeping plan

Russian and U.S. officials are holding their first formal meeting in years on Tuesday, as they meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss the foundation for talks on how to end the war in Ukraine.

The meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, which began in the last hour, marks the first formal sit-down meeting between top U.S. and Russian diplomats since January 2022, when then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Lavrov met in Geneva just weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine. 

U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz are taking part in the meeting while Lavrov is accompanied by Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov, according to Russian state media, with no plans for a private meeting between Rubio and Lavrov.

The high-profile meeting comes after U.S. President Donald Trump announced last week that he and Russian President Putin had agreed to start negotiations to end the three-year war in Ukraine.

Both sides appear to be playing down the potential outcome of this first meeting. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters on Monday that the Riyadh meeting was designed to “determine if the Russians perhaps are serious, and if they’re on the same page.”

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that the meeting was to discuss restoring bilateral relations and “preparations for potential Ukraine peace talks” as well as a forthcoming meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to comments translated by NBC News.

Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, is also a part of the Russian delegation in Riyadh with his presence signalling that Moscow is keen to emphasize the economic benefits of restoring ties.

Speaking to Russian media outlets Tuesday, Dmitriev estimates that “U.S. businesses lost around $300 billion from leaving Russia. So there is huge economic toll on many countries from you know what’s happening right now, and we believe as a way forward is through solutions,” he said, according to a news agency Interfax report.

European leaders held an emergency meeting in Paris on Monday where they agreed on the need to sharply increase defense spending but could not agree on whether to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine as part of a post-war plan.

The U.K. has said it is willing to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine but said the U.S. would need to provide a “backstop” to support the deployment, while Denmark and France signaled a willingness to consider sending troops to the country.

Other nations, including some of Ukraine’s biggest backers, Poland and Germany, are wary, however. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was openly critical of the idea, calling it “completely premature” and “highly inappropriate” while the leaders of Italy, Spain and Norway appeared to be more cynical about the idea.

Anxious to remain close to President Trump, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is due to meet the president next week, while French President Emmanuel Macron said he’d spoken to Trump and Zelenskyy after the emergency summit.

“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 said on social media platform X.