US & Russia meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss ending invasion of Ukraine without Ukraine

On Feb. 18, officials from the United States and Russia met in Saudi Arabia for initial talks about ending the war in Ukraine.

Representatives from Ukraine were not present.

This could have been an email

According to Reuters, government officials from the United States and Russia met in the capital city of Riyadh on Feb. 18 for a four-and-a-half-hour meeting on ending the war in Ukraine.

The meeting was attended by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

Also in attendance for the U.S. was national security advisor Michael Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

On the Russian side, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov was also present.

The Saudi foreign minister, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, and the Saudi national security advisor, Mosaad bin Mohammad Al-Aiban hosted the meeting.

The talks are meant to be part of an initial effort and the war in Ukraine, but neither Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky nor any European leader was in attendance.

Carving knives

Part of the discussions apparently were possible economic opportunities that the end of the world might provide, in a process that the Guardian described as the U.S. and Russia sharpening “their carving knives”.

This was likely an allusion to early 1900s style imperial powers splitting the world between them.

Contradicting this narrative slightly was Rubio’s statement that any agreement would have to be acceptable to both warring sides.

Donald Trump has previously said that he aims to extract mineral resources from Ukraine in exchange for aid already given.

Russia is also under severe financial sanctions and will look to lessen or remove those sanctions as soon as possible.

European involvement

However, both sides must overcome numerous obstacles in peace talks, even if the current U.S. and Russian leadership are less antagonistic than previously.

Notably absent from the talks were Ukrainian and European leaders, who had themselves recently held a summit to discuss support for Ukraine.

European leaders have consistently said that they view Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an existential crisis, and have indicated that they will step up military support in the event of any U.S. withdrawal.

While the U.S. has repeatedly stated that it will not send troops to enforce any peace deal, it has said that not only is it open to European countries doing so, tacitly saying that it expects them to.

However, any such European peacekeeping force will not operate as a NATO force.

Politico reported that Lavrov rejected such a prospect after the talks, saying that NATO member militaries, even if not operating as part of NATO should be involved, citing Russia’s alleged concern with NATO’s so-called "eastward expansion".

Power system

Lavrov also rejected a proposal that both Russia and Ukraine stop attacking each other’s energy infrastructure, according to the Guardian.

Lavrov denied that Russia had ever endangered Ukraine's civilian energy supply system.

This is despite the fact that Russian drones and missiles have repeatedly attacked Ukrainian energy supply infrastructure, including a recent drone strike on the protective structure that surrounds the ruins of the Chornobyl power plant.

Chornobyl, despite the tragedy that famously destroyed its No. 4 reactor, remains an operational power plant.

Russia is also occupying the Zaphoriza power plant, having attacked the area in the early stages of the invasion, and in 2023 blew up a hydroelectric dam along the Dnieper river in 2023.

Ukraine for its part has engaged in a strategy of, among other things, targeting Russia’s fuel infrastructure with its own long-range weaponry, setting fire to oil depots and refineries.

Blame game

Trump however has lambasted Zelensky, criticising him for complaining about not being invited, as Politico reported.

Trump said that Zelensky “should have ended it” three years prior, indicating the time period when Russia first launched its total invasion of Ukraine.

Trump did not elaborate on what or how Zelensky was meant to negotiate away an invasion meant to end national sovereignty.

Trump also demanded fresh elections in Ukraine, and claimed that Zelensky had a 4 per cent approval rating; Zelensky’s approval rating has dropped but is positive at 52 per cent, which compares favourably to Trump’s own 53 per cent approval rating, according to CBS.

Trump also stated that the people of Ukraine were tired of the war’s death and destruction, and were eager for the war to end.

This was at odds with Politico’s reading of the situation, which reported Ukrainians around the country were shocked at Trump’s indifference to the nation’s fate.

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Top image via @SecRubio/Twitter