Mon Feb 17 14:39:20 UTC 2025: ## Saudi Arabia Hosts Secret US-Russia Talks, Excluding Ukraine and Sparking European Outrage
**Riyadh, Saudi Arabia** – In a move that has sparked outrage among European leaders, Saudi Arabia is hosting top-level talks between US and Russian diplomats aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. The meeting, the first between the two nations since the war began in February 2022, will take place without Ukrainian participation, a decision that has been met with significant criticism.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will represent the US, while Russia will be represented by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, a top aide to President Putin. The Kremlin has framed the meeting as an attempt to repair US-Russia relations, with a potential US-Russia summit between Presidents Trump and Putin being discussed. Russia has explicitly excluded European nations from these negotiations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be in Saudi Arabia the day *after* the US-Russia meeting, but his spokesperson, Sergiy Nykyforov, stressed he will not be meeting with either US or Russian officials. Zelenskyy’s visit is described as part of a pre-planned trip, and he stated that Ukraine will not recognize any agreements reached without their participation.
The exclusion of Ukraine and Europe has prompted an emergency meeting in Paris, convened by French President Emmanuel Macron. Leaders from across Europe, including the UK, Germany, and Poland, expressed deep concern over the shift in US policy towards Moscow, particularly given President Trump’s past statements advocating for a swift resolution to the conflict. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer even alluded to the possibility of deploying British troops if necessary. The European leaders are reportedly concerned about a potential Trump-Putin summit and the implications for the future of the conflict. The war in Ukraine is approaching its third anniversary.
First Piper 