Russia won’t accept NATO troops in any Ukraine peacekeeping force
“The conversation, I believe, was very useful. We did not just listen but heard each other, and I have reason to believe the American side has better understood our position.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who did not attend the talks, has repeatedly said Ukraine would need security guarantees under any peace deal, and that could include NATO membership.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that NATO membership for Ukraine was unrealistic, and US troops would not be deployed.
Lavrov said the two sides had agreed to “ensure the prompt appointment of ambassadors to each other’s capitals and remove the obstacles that the Biden administration has put in place regarding our diplomatic missions”.
He said barriers included “the expulsion of diplomats, the issue of the seizure of our property and banking transactions”.
“Our deputies will soon arrange a meeting to assess the need for removing these barriers,” he said.
The talks have sparked fears in Kyiv and in European capitals that Trump is prepared to settle the conflict on Putin’s terms. Trans-Atlantic ties – already battered by a scathing speech by US Vice-President JD Vance that accused European leaders of ignoring the will of their voters – have been strained further by the fact that the Riyadh meeting took place without the participation of US allies, or that of Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Russia appeared to harden its position, as its foreign ministry ruled out a role for Europe in the Ukraine talks and demanded NATO rescind an open-ended 2008 invitation to Kyiv.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, referencing Ukraine and the EU’s absence from the talks in Riyadh, said “no one is being sidelined here”.
He said that some “very positive things for the United States, for Europe, for Ukraine, for the world” could emerge – “but first it begins by the end of this conflict”.
Rubio said that all sides would need to make concessions to end the three-year war, adding it was the first step of a long and difficult journey, but an important one.
He told a press conference he was “convinced” Russia was willing to engage in a “serious process” to end the war and said there would be “extraordinary opportunities” for ties between Washington and Moscow if the conflict was brought to a close.
As the talks took place, Zelensky visited his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has previously sought to play a brokering role in the conflict. He had cancelled his own trip to Saudi Arabia, which had been planned for Wednesday, in protest against his exclusion.
“We don’t want a peace brokered behind the scenes without our involvement,” the Ukrainian President said. “Without Ukraine, peace cannot be achieved.”
