Negotiations between Russia and the US regarding the war in Ukraine have commenced in Saudi Arabia.

Negotiations between Russia and the USA regarding the war in Ukraine have begun in Saudi Arabia

The USA and Russia have initiated negotiations in Saudi Arabia concerning the war in Ukraine. This marks the first in-person meeting of representatives from both countries since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The talks are taking place at the royal residence in Riyadh, according to BBC Ukraine.

Tom Bateman, a BBC correspondent at the US State Department, who is accompanying Secretary of State Marco Rubio, witnessed the start of the negotiations.

"Both delegations sat in silence and looked at the press while we were in the room for about a minute. US Special Representative for the Middle East Steve Vitkoff was taking some notes, but no one answered questions."

The parties are expected to discuss ways to end the war in Ukraine and restore US-Russian relations.

Neither Ukraine nor any European countries were invited to the meeting.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Kyiv would not recognize any agreements reached in negotiations without Ukraine's participation.

On the American side, the negotiation team includes, besides Marco Rubio, Trump's national security adviser Mike Waltz and the White House representative for the Middle East Steve Vitkoff.

Along with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev attended the talks. Both Lavrov and Ushakov are seasoned diplomats who have helped Putin implement Russian foreign policy for years. Dmitriev has extensive experience working in the USA.

The USA states that the negotiations are the first step to assess whether Russia is "serious" about ending the war, while Russia claims the goal is to normalize its relations with Washington.

The talks could pave the way for a summit involving Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, as both sides discuss the resumption of the full range of Russian-American relations, according to Reuters.

"We really see that President Trump and his team are problem solvers, people who have already very quickly, very effectively, and very successfully resolved a number of major issues," said Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, to reporters in Riyadh.

According to Dmitriev, the American negotiators have not yet made direct promises to their Russian counterparts, as reported by the American broadcaster CNN, which spoke with a representative from Russia.

"I think the promise is this: let's engage in dialogue, let's find the best solution for our countries, for other countries, for the global community," Dmitriev told CNN, indicating that he had already had some unofficial meetings with representatives of President Donald Trump's team in Saudi Arabia.

Dmitriev also argued that Russia primarily seeks to ease the sanctions imposed against it, claiming that American and Russian economies could benefit from working together.

Notably, while Kirill Dmitriev is part of the Moscow delegation in Riyadh, he is apparently not at the negotiation table but is conducting briefings for journalists.

Dmitriev stated that he expects progress on economic issues between the USA and Russia within three months. He also claimed that American companies have lost over $300 billion due to their exit from Russian markets following the invasion of Ukraine.

BBC Monitoring editor Vitaliy Shevchenko reminds us that Dmitriev is considered close to Vladimir Putin's family. His wife studied alongside Putin's possible daughter Ekaterina Tikhonova at Moscow State University.

Kyiv and its European allies are concerned that Donald Trump wants to settle the conflict on Vladimir Putin's terms.

The day before, European leaders held an emergency summit to agree on a unified strategy after being taken aback by Trump's eagerness for immediate negotiations regarding Ukraine.

Earlier, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated he was ready to consider sending British troops to Ukraine once the war ends. However, this idea was not universally supported – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the discussion about troops "premature."

Has the USA made concessions?

The negotiations in the Saudi capital represent the first high-level attempt to put an end to Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine since the initial talks nearly three years ago, which collapsed due to the inflexible demands of the Russian president.

The British publication Financial Times believes that the USA made significant concessions to Putin even before the negotiations began, rejecting Ukraine's desire to join NATO and regain control over territories occupied by Russia.

These concessions are likely to embolden Putin, who has yet to show any signs of willingness to compromise in his aim to turn Ukraine into a non-viable state, said former Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev.

The decisive shift in the situation, combined with Trump's desire to quickly end the war, leads Western officials to doubt whether the Kremlin is genuinely interested in any agreement other than Ukraine's capitulation, writes the FT.

"If the agreement includes granting Ukraine unlimited flexibility for armament and continued close cooperation with the West, Putin will be much less inclined to agree to something like that," said a former high-ranking official.

Last week, Putin told Trump that Russia wants to "settle the cause of the conflict."

This, as an FT European diplomat said, "means he is thinking about the entire Eastern European theater, American bases, American troops."

Countries such as China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have offered to host meetings between Trump and Putin.

As experts suggested, Saudi Arabia is a logical choice as it serves as a neutral venue, and holding a meeting in a European country is impossible due to Europe's firm stance on the war in Ukraine.