US and Russia to seek 'economic opportunities' after Ukraine war

Statements after Riyadh talks raise alarm in Kyiv and the rest of Europe

- Pjotr Sauer and Luke Harding Kyiv

US and Russian officials agreed yesterday to explore the "economic and investment opportunities" that could benefit their countries with an end to the war in Ukraine after talks in Saudi Arabia that highlighted a tectonic shift in Washington's approach to Russia.

The statements from the two sides came amid concerns in Kyiv and across Europe that Donald Trump could push for a peace settlement favouring Vladimir Putin.

No Ukrainian or even European officials were present at the meeting.

After the talks at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh - the most extensive negotiations between the two countries in three years - the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said agreement had been made to create a high-level team to support Ukraine peace talks and to explore "opportunities which will emerge from a successful end to the conflict in Ukraine".

The statements marked a clear break with the Biden administration's efforts to isolate Moscow.

Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and Putin's chief foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, were photographed earlier sitting across from Rubio, who attended the talks alongside the US national security adviser, Mike Waltz, and Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East.

Rubio said an end to the Ukraine conflict must be acceptable to all involved, including Ukraine, Europe and Russia, adding that its European allies were consulted on Ukraine.

The talks in the Saudi capital, however, underscored the rapid pace of US efforts to halt the conflict, raising alarm in Kyiv and across Europe, where officials met in Paris on Monday to discuss the possibility of sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine.

Lavrov rejected that suggestion yesterday, saying that the deployment of Nato member troops in Ukraine, even if they were operating there under a different flag, was unacceptable to Moscow. Russia has repeatedly rejected the idea of western boots in Ukraine.