A peaceful and lasting end of the war in Ukraine is finally discussed – but not all parties are at the same table.
US and Russian officials held their first talks on Tuesday since the start of the war almost three years ago, with a first cycle of bilateral negotiations in Saudi Arabia. The meeting occurred a few hours after the reception of European leaders in Paris to discuss their own security, as well as Ukraine.
None of the meetings included representatives of kyiv, who, according to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is absolutely necessary.
Canada will participate in another series of European talks on Wednesday.
Distinct talks underline the complexity of the end of the deadliest European conflict since the Second World War, according to analysts. While the new Trump administration focuses on the conclusion of a peace agreement quickly, the EU EU allies wish to ensure that the United States does not commit Russia or do not leave a void security on the continent.
“What the Americans do not want to do is to have a long elaborate peace process where there are several stakeholders at the table, several writing options, and this thing happens forever,” said Andrew Rasiulis, Member of the Canadian Global Institute of Affairs and former defense manager. “Europeans, of course, push hard against that now.
“They are therefore two parallel tracks, and at some point, they meet. The question is how.
What are the United States and Russia discussing?
Tuesday’s meeting between us and Russian officials in Riyadh indeed ended the Isolation Strategy Russian President Vladimir Putin during the war he started in 2022.
Translections should lead to a future meeting between Putin and US President Donald Trump, although the two parties said that no date had been set for this summit.
While Ukraine was discussed, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told journalists after the meeting that the two parties also agreed to restore staff in their respective embassies in Washington and Moscow and explore relations closer and economic cooperation.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, second on the left, meets the Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Faire Bin Farhan Al Saud, Saudi advisor in matters of national security Mosaad Bin Mohammad al-Aiban, US national security advisor, Mike Waltz, third on the left, American envoy of the Middle East Steve Witkoff, on the left, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, on the right, and the foreign policy advisor to the Russian president Vladimir Putin Yuri Ushakov, second on the right, at the Palais Dériyah, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, February 18, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein / Pool Photo via AP).
The national security adviser of the White House, Mike Waltz, said that the American post was that the war should end permanently and that any peace negotiation will imply “a discussion on the territory and that there will be a discussion on security guarantees ”.
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US President Donald Trump said last week It was “unlikely” that Ukraine would recover all the land that Russia has entered the war.
On Tuesday, it seemed to be suitable that Ukraine should also organize new elections.
“When (Ukraine says) that they want a seat at the table, you might say that people have to do it – wouldn’t the inhabitants of Ukraine have to say as, you know:” It’s been a long time since We did not have an election, “” Trump told journalists in Florida.
Russia also continues to emphasize that any commitment to future Ukrainian membership in NATO must be removed from the table, which was taken up by members of the Trump administration.
Rubio stressed that talks have marked the start of a conversation, and more work must be done. This understood to bring in Ukrainian and European officials in future interviews, he added, which he provided during a call with European leaders later.
What are European leaders talking about?
While the United States and Russia seemed to be closer, there were disagreements for European leaders on how to intensify Ukraine in the event of the future peace agreement.
The talks on Monday in Paris between the leaders of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, NATO and of the European Union have seen agreements to stimulate defense expenses, but they remained divided on the idea of deploying peacekeepers in Ukraine to support any peace agreement.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was ready to consider sending British forces on Ukrainian field alongside others “if there is a lasting peace agreement”. Danish Prime Minister Put Frederiksen said she was also open to discussing troop deployments.
But the leaders of Germany, Poland and Italy rejected this idea, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz calling such a “premature” and “very inappropriate” speech before a peace agreement. French President Emmanuel Macron was not committee.
Trump said on Tuesday that it would be “good” of European peacekeeping troops in Ukraine, which Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that after Riyadh’s meeting, which Moscow would not accept not.
Starmer added that any European security guarantee would need us, which, according to American officials, remained a possibility.
Zelenskyy pointed out on Tuesday that his government was to be involved in peace talks in the future.
“We want nobody to decide anything behind our back,” Zelenskyy told journalists during a visit to Türkiye. “No decision can be made without Ukraine on how to end the war in Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy postponed his own planned trip to Saudi Arabia to avoid giving legitimacy to the American-Russia meeting, reported the Associated Press and Reuters.
General Keith Kellogg, special envoy of Trump in Ukraine and Russia, will be in kyiv on Wednesday for interviews with Zelenskyy.
Canada was invited to a second cycle of security talks in Paris on Wednesday with other European leaders not present at the meeting on Monday, a government source confirmed to Global News.
Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on Tuesday that she wanted Canadians to play a role in peacekeeping in Ukraine.
She told a Brussels virtual press conference that “we want to be one of those conversations concerning security guarantees” and that Canada pushes the United States to include Ukraine in future talks.
Trump had long promised to quickly end the Ukraine War when entering the White House in January.
The war, which will reach the three -year brand next week, has seen the front line in eastern Ukraine frozen actually for several months, although Russian troops make slow but regular gains. The two parties lost thousands of lives in what Waltz called on Tuesday a “bouncer”.
Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that neither Kyiv nor Moscow could win on the battlefield.
“The Ukrainians have the will to keep … but it will be another war of attrition and it will eventually end, ultimately, the Ukrainian exhaustion and the lines will be further west than they are today. Hui, “said Rasiulis.
He said that the Trump administration probably considers Easter as a potential deadline to conclude an agreement, while Putin targets Russia’s victory holidays on May 9 – the anniversary of the defeat of the Soviet Union of the Nazi Germany which has long been used for Russian propaganda for Russian propaganda.
But Rasiulis added that a closer American-round relationship could have a “negative collateral effect” for Ukraine and Europe that the two will have to prepare.
The United States and Russia have agreed to hold more talks. Lavrov said Washington and Moscow have agreed to name representatives to make “regular consultations” on Ukraine.
“I have reasons to believe that the American party began to better understand our position,” said the Russian minister.
– with files from the Associated Press and Reuters
