Diplomacy in the foreground while war rages on in the backgroundpublished at 17:05 Greenwich Mean Time 18 February
Imogen James
Live reporter
Along Ukraine’s frontline, the war rages on. But global attention spanned thousands of miles away today, as representatives from Russia and the US met in Saudi Arabia to discuss an end to the conflict.
Uninvited to those talks, and in Turkey instead, was Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
He made it known he won’t accept a deal made about Ukraine without Ukraine’s involvement, and that he wouldn’t recognise parts of Ukraine occupied by Russia.
Speaking after the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the talks “useful”, but said any type of peacekeeping forces in Ukraine would be “completely unacceptable”.
Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State, told reporters he’s “convinced” that Russia is willing to engage in a serious process of ending the war. Referencing criticisms from Ukraine’s European allies, who also missed an invite, he said nobody was “sidelined” from the meeting.
Up next, the countries said they would appoint teams to negotiate ending the Ukraine war. But they said they are no closer to arranging a meeting between Trump and Putin.
Looking downcast, Zelensky told reported in Turkey that he had postponed his visit to Saudi Arabia this week until mid-March, after the results from today’s talks came to light.
Our live coverage is stopping here, but there’s more to be read elsewhere:
