U.S.-Russia Talks Exclude Ukraine and European Allies

Senior American and Russian officials met in Riyadh to discuss bilateral relations and the war in Ukraine, with no Ukrainian or European representatives included at the table.

Excluding the country under attack and its principal allies from talks about ending the war raised concerns about legitimizing Moscow's negotiating position and sidelining the parties whose territory, security and future were most directly at stake. The format departed from prior approaches that treated Ukrainian and allied participation as central to any settlement discussion.

The meeting proceeded as described, with the exclusion of Ukraine and European allies drawing criticism; no legal or diplomatic outcome beyond the meeting itself is reported in the scaffold record.