RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Putin aide clarifies Moscow’s approach to US talks

High-level Russian and US delegations will hold talks in Riyadh without the participation of third countries, President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov has said. Earlier on Monday, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky stated that Kiev would treat any negotiations without its involvement as “null and void.”

According to Ushakov, the discussions in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday aim to lay the groundwork for ending the conflict in Ukraine.

“The talks in Riyadh will be bilateral – between Russia and the United States,” Ushakov confirmed.

The Russian delegation will include Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and himself, stated Ushakov. Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive of the sovereign wealth fund (RDIF), may also join, he added. Created in 2011, the fund aims to attract direct investments and venture capital into Russia.

The American side will be represented by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz, and Steve Witkoff, special envoy for the Middle East.

EU diplomats will not be present at the meeting. Kellogg recently argued that involving multiple parties in the negotiations could hinder its progress.

Kiev will not recognize any agreements that may be reached between Russia and the US during talks in Saudi Arabia, Zelensky told journalists on Monday. The Ukrainian government will only acknowledge negotiations that involve its representatives, he said.

The talks in Riyadh follow a phone call between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, during which the two leaders agreed to initiate negotiations to end the nearly three-year conflict.

Riyadh has previously facilitated prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine and maintains diplomatic relations with both nations. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov explained that the location was selected because it suited both countries.

The RDIF has been actively involved in initiatives within the BRICS group of emerging economies, which includes Russia, China, India and Brazil, among others. Saudi Arabia was invited to join the bloc in 2023, and has engaged in discussions regarding potential membership. However, it has yet to make a final decision.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

US Ukraine envoy Kellogg says no one will impose peace deal on Zelenskiy

Keith Kellogg, U.S. President Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy, said on Monday that no one would impose a peace deal on Kyiv and that questions about whether Washington would provide guarantees for any future European peacekeepers would be addressed later.

Senior U.S. officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio - but not Kellogg - are due to meet on Tuesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for talks focused on ending the war in Ukraine and on Russia-U.S. ties.

Kellogg, who said he would visit Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv this week, told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels that nobody would impose a deal "on an elected leader of a sovereign nation".

He also reiterated that he was speaking with European allies, who have been pushing to be included in negotiations, but that in his view it was not feasible to have everyone sitting at the table.

European officials have been shocked by the Trump administration’s moves in recent days to court Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost three years ago, triggering a barrage of Western sanctions and ostracism.

Washington has sent a questionnaire to European capitals to ask what they could contribute to security guarantees for Kyiv, adding urgency to discussions among European allies on how to respond to changing U.S. policy.

The leaders of France, Britain, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands as well as top officials from NATO and the European Union were holding an emergency meeting in Paris on Monday.

Britain, Sweden and Germany said they were open to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, given a clear and acceptable mandate. Many officials have stressed they would only consider sending troops to Ukraine if the U.S. provided a security guarantee.

Asked whether the U.S. would do this, Kellogg said: "I've been with President Trump, and the policy has always been: You take no options off the table."

"Before any type of discussion and security guarantees is finalised, of course those discussions are going to take place," he said. "Answers to those questions will be determined as you come up with the final process."

RT/Reuters