Russia, USA, Ukraine & the absurdity of war

 

US, Russia forge ahead on peace talks, without Ukraine

 

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration said on Tuesday it had agreed to hold more talks with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine after an initial meeting that excluded Kyiv, a departure from Washington's previous approach that rallied U.S. allies to isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin.

As the 4-1/2-hour meeting in the Saudi capital was underway, Russia hardened its demands, notably insisting it would not tolerate the NATO alliance granting membership to Ukraine.

 

 

 

 

Later on Tuesday, Trump said he was more confident after the talks and he would probably meet with Putin before the end of the month.

"Russia wants to do something," Trump told reporters in Palm Beach, Florida. He brushed aside Ukraine's concern about being left out of the meeting and said Kyiv should have entered talks much earlier.

"I think I have the power to end this war," said Trump.

The talks in Riyadh were the first time U.S. and Russian officials met to discuss ways to halt the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. Ukraine has said it will not accept any deal imposed without its consent, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated "there must be no decision over the heads of Ukraine."

 

Even before the talks took place, some European politicians accused Trump's administration of handing free concessions to Moscow last week by ruling out NATO membership for Ukraine and saying it was an illusion for Kyiv to believe it could win back the 20% of its territory now under Russian control.

U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz told reporters in Riyadh that the war must come to a permanent end, and this would involve negotiations over territory.

"Just a practical reality is that there is going to be some discussion of territory and there's going to be discussion of security guarantees," he said.

High-level teams would begin talks on ending the conflict and would separately work to restore the countries' respective diplomatic missions in Washington and Moscow to ease the talks going forward, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.