President Volodymyr Zelensky has postponed his visit to Saudi Arabia after being sidelined by Russia and the US in today’s talks.
He criticised the meeting between US and Russian delegates as they were talks about Ukraine “without Ukraine”.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said ending Russia's war in Ukraine will require concessions from all sides and that Europe and Ukraine will be part of the talks.
"Today is the first step of a long and difficult journey but an important one," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after the talks in Riyadh.
No date has yet been set for a summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The U.S delegation said negotiations would include discussions about territory and security guarantees for Ukraine. Russia controls about a fifth of Ukraine.
Rubio said Trump wants to move quickly to try to bring an end to the war, and that the goal is a fair, enduring and sustainable agreement.
Amid concerns in Ukraine and among European allies about the U.S-led effort, Rubio said the goal is an agreement that is "acceptable to everyone involved in it, and that obviously includes Ukraine, but also our partners in Europe, and, of course, the Russian side as well."
For the latest updates scroll down.
Key Points
- US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia come to an end after 4.5hours, as Putin's foreign policy advisor labels them a 'success'
- The Kremlin has said Vladimir Putin is willing to speak to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky “if necessary”
- US says today's talks are the first step to see if Russia is "serious" about ending the war in Ukraine, while Russia aims to normalise relations with the US
- President Vladimir Putin is serious about ending the war in Ukraine, Kremlin says
- Comment: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin's Russia-Ukraine deal risks making a bad war even worse
- Putin-Trump meeting is unlikely to take place next week, says Kremlin aide
- 'Positive' and 'constructive': Verdict on Russia-US talks today
- US secretary of state Marco Rubio says ending Russia's war in Ukraine will require concessions from all sides
Talks due to begin soon
06:42 , Matt WattsTalks between US and Russian officials this morning about ending the Ukraine war are scheduled to begin at 10 am local time (7am UK).
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and President Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov set off for the Saudi capital on Monday, according to Russian state TV.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and special envoy Steve Witkoff will meet the Russian delegation, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.
The talks are set to pave the way for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The recent US diplomatic blitz on the war has sent Kyiv and key allies scrambling to ensure a seat at the table amid concerns that Washington and Moscow could press ahead with a deal that will not be favourable to them.
Here's everything you need to know before the talks begin
07:01 , Megan Howe• US officials say the talks are the first step in seeing if Russia is “serious” about ending the war in Ukraine, but Russia believes the meeting is about normalising US relations
• One aim of the meeting is to arrange talks between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Riyadh
• UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he is prepared to consider sending troops to Ukraine if and when the war ends
• Starmer has said any peace deal between the two countries would involve the US, to ensure peace was maintained
• It is unclear how the US would make up the “backdrop” of the peace deal, but some have suggested this could be air support, logistics or intelligence capabilities
Keir Starmer 'ready' to put troops into Ukraine if peace deal reached
07:08 , Megan HoweYesterday, the Prime Minister said the UK is ‘ready and willing’ to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine if a deal is reached to end conflict.
Sir Keir made the commitment while acknowledging this could put British troops "in harm's way" if Russian President Vladimir Putin attacks again.
Read the full story below.
Keir Starmer prepared to put British troops into Ukraine in event of peace deal
What are the latest developments on the frontline in Ukraine?
07:35 , Megan HoweWith the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine fast approaching, here are the latest developments on the frontline as of February 18.
• Russian forces have escalated their attacks in the eastern regions, particularly around Pokrovsk. Ukrainian military reports indicate a surge in assaults, aiming to capture strategic locations
• Despite facing intensified Russian offensives, Ukrainian troops have managed to reclaim certain areas in the east. This could indicate a potential slowdown in Russian advances
• Ukraine has ramped up the production of fiber-optic drones, which are resistant to traditional electronic jamming. These have been deployed to the frontline
• While casualty counts vary, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced in early February that approximately 45,100 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed, with an additional 390,000 wounded since the conflict began
• European leaders convened in Paris for emergency talks, emphasizing the critical situation on Ukraine's frontline. Discussions focused on increasing defense support for Ukraine and addressing the broader security implications for Europe
US and Russia begin talks in Riyadh
07:49 , Megan HoweTalks between US and Russian delegations have begun in Saudi Arabia.
US officials have emphasised today’s meeting is not about starting peace negotiations, but seeing whether Russia is “serious” about ending the war.
Russia has said its priority is normalising relations with the US.
President Zelensky excluded from US-Russia peace talks
08:07 , Megan HoweNeither Volodymyr Zelensky, nor any other Ukrainian officials, are at today’s talks. Zelensky was not invited to attend.
He previously expressed dissatisfaction over Ukraine’s exclusion from the talks.
"We cannot recognize any agreements about us without us,” he said. "Ukraine did not know they were planned."
He further asserted: "We will not recognize such agreements."
President Zelensky is in Turkey today to meet with President Recep Tayyip.
Overnight strikes in Ukraine
09:35 , Megan HoweWhile the talks today are ongoing, the Ukrainian Air Force has said air defences shot down 103 of 176 drones launched by Russia overnight.
They were shot down over several regions including Kyiv, where smoke could be seen rising over the city.
Damage has been reported in Kharkiv, Kyiv, Kirovohrad and Cherkasy.
One killed in Ukraine overnight drone strikes
09:43 , Megan HoweAn 80-year-old man has died in the town of Orikhiv, after strikes took place across Ukraine last night, Ukrainian authorities say.
Administration head Ivan Fedorov said the elderly man’s house came under shelling.
Meanwhile in Dolynska, hundreds of miles from the frontline, a Russian drone blew a hole in the wall of a civilian high-rise building. Two children and an adult were injured in the attack.
A tanker delivering fresh water to residents of Kostyantynivka was also hit.
Two rescue workers and two police officers were injured in the attacks, the ministry said.
In pictures: Overnight drone strikes in Kyiv
09:45 , Megan Howe
Expect progress on US economic talks, says head of the Russian sovereign wealth fund
09:51 , Megan HoweKirill Dmitriev has briefed reports on the outside of the meeting in Riyadh today.
The CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund told reports he expects progress on economic issues to be made between the US and Russia within three months.
He claims US businesses have lost more than $300 billion after leaving Russian markets following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Russian state media.
MPs 'likely to get a vote' on sending British troops to Ukraine
09:52 , Megan HoweMPs are likely to get a vote in Parliament on deploying any British peace-keeping troops to Ukraine, a Cabinet minister has signalled.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said this is the “normal” practice, if “circumstances” allow.
Read the full story below.
MPs 'to get vote' on sending UK troops to Ukraine as peacekeepers if Putin war ends
Kremlin says joining the EU is Ukraine's sovereign right
10:04 , Megan HoweThe Kremlin said on Tuesday that it was Ukraine's sovereign right to decide whether it wanted to join the European Union and that Moscow did not intend to dictate to Kyiv how it should approach the question.
Asked if Ukraine could one day join the European Union, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "This is the sovereign right of any country.
"We are talking about integration and economic integration processes. And here, of course, no one can dictate anything to any country, and we are not going to do that," Peskov said.
Peskov added, though, that Russia's position was different when it came to Ukraine joining military alliances.
"There is a completely different position, of course, on security-related issues related to defence or military alliances," Peskov said.
US must provide ‘backstop’ to deter Russia, says Prime Minister after talks on Ukraine
10:06 , Megan HowePutin will speak to Zelensky 'if necessary'
10:29 , Megan HoweThe Kremlin has said Vladimir Putin is willing to speak to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky “if necessary”.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “"Putin himself said that he would be ready to negotiate with Zelensky if necessary.
"But the legal basis of agreements needs discussion considering the reality that Zelensky's legitimacy can be questioned.”
Media will be briefed post talks
10:41 , Megan HoweUS and Russian officials locked in talks in Saudi Arabia are currently taking a short break.
Spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said that when talks are done, the foreign ministry will brief the media.
Putin is serious about ending the war in Ukraine, Kremlin says
10:51 , Megan HoweThe Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was serious about negotiating a settlement to end the war in Ukraine as high-level talks began in Saudi Arabia.
Officials added that Russia would prefer to achieve all its aims peacefully.
"President Putin has been repeating his words about his readiness for peace talks from the very beginning," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"The main thing for us is to achieve our goals. And, of course, we prefer peaceful means to achieve our goals."
European leaders and former U.S president Joe Biden have repeatedly asserted they do not think Putin really wants peace, though U.S. President Donald Trump says he does think Putin is serious.
Peskov said there was no understanding yet about a date for a meeting between Putin and Trump, though the Riyadh talks might bring clarity.
It was, he said, impossible to give any sense of the talks as they had only just begun.
Asked if Putin was willing specifically to negotiate with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Peskov said Putin had repeatedly said that he was.
But he also said any agreement would have to take into account a possible challenge to Zelenskiy's legitimacy, a reference to the fact that Zelenskiy has remained in office beyond the end of his normal term because Ukraine is under martial law.
Russia wants NATO to disavow 2008 promise to Ukraine, foreign ministry says
11:41 , Megan HoweRussia wants NATO to disavow its 2008 promise to one day give Ukraine membership of the U.S-led military alliance, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday.
NATO membership for Ukraine is unacceptable for Russia but a simple refusal to accept Ukraine into NATO is also not enough for Russia, she said.
"It is worth noting that a refusal to accept Kyiv into NATO is not enough," Zakharova said.
"The alliance must disavow the Bucharest promises of 2008."
Putin-Trump meeting unlikely to take place next week says Kremlin's aide
12:14 , Megan HoweA meeting between US President Trump and Russian President Putin is unlikely to take place next week, according to The Kremlin’s aide Ushakov Yury.
Starmer and Badenoch criticised by top judge over 'inappropriate' comments on court ruling
12:16 , Megan HowePrime Minister Keir Starmer and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch have been blasted by a top judge for “unacceptable“ comments in Parliament criticising a court ruling.
Lady Chief Justice Baroness Sue Carr said there is a “mounting campaign of attacks on judges“, and took the unusual step of criticising top politicians for their outspoken comments on a particular case.
Read the full story below.
Starmer and Badenoch slammed by judge over 'inappropriate' comments
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin's Russia-Ukraine deal risks making a bad war even worse
12:20 , Megan HowePretty much everyone wants the war in Ukraine to end. But the question of how it stops, for how long, and on what terms are decisive. Right now, those terms don’t work: it is a hastily thrown-together pressure selling exercise by Donald Trump, which badly lets down Ukraine, writes Anne McElvoy.
Trump and Putin's Russia-Ukraine deal risks making a bad war even worse
US-Russia talks come to an end after 4.5 hours
12:24 , Megan HoweRussian President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy adviser said on Tuesday that the four-and-a-half-hour talks between Russia and the United States in Saudi Arabia have concluded and were successful.
Yuri Ushakov said Tuesday that the two sides discussed the terms of a meeting between Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, TASS reported.
A meeting between Putin and Trump is unlikely to take place next week, Ushakov said.
He added that there was so far no concrete date for a meeting.
'Positive' and 'constructive': Verdict on Russia-US talks today
12:34 , Megan HoweRussian delegates have been giving their verdict on how the Russia-US talks went today.
Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, told Russia’s state TV Channel One that “a very positive, constructive dialogue has begun.”
"Unlike the Biden administration, which never tried to hear Russia's position, this was a very clear effort to start dialogue, understand Russia's position and discuss the things we agree upon."
“We understand each other much better now,” he adds.
Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Russian state TV of the talks: "Not bad, not bad... it's hard to say if [Russia and the US] are getting closer, but that's what we discussed.”
Negotiations to cover territory and security, US confirms
13:27 , Matt WattsSenior US. officials said after talks with a Russian delegation that they expect negotiations over the Ukraine war to cover territory and security guarantees.
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz, joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff, said the delegations did not set a date for a summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
After today's meeting, the US and Russia have agreed to appoint "high-level teams" to begin working on a path to end Russia's war in Ukraine, the US State Department says.
The pair have also agreed to address "irritants" in the "bilateral relationship", spokesperson Tammy Bruce says in a statement on the agency's website.
"One phone call followed by one meeting is not sufficient to establish enduring peace. We must take action, and today we took an important step forward," she adds.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio says ending Russia's war in Ukraine will require concessions from all sides
13:48 , Matt WattsUS secretary of state Marco Rubio says ending Russia's war in Ukraine will require concessions from all sides and that Europe and Ukraine will be part of talks.
"Today is the first step of a long and difficult journey but an important one," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after the talks in Riyadh.
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz, also part of the U.S. delegation alongside special envoy Steve Witkoff, told reporters that no date had been set for a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The U.S. delegation said negotiations would include discussions about territory and security guarantees for Ukraine. Russia controls about a fifth of Ukraine.
Rubio said Trump wants to move quickly to try to bring an end to the war, and that the goal is a fair, enduring and sustainable agreement.
Amid concerns in Ukraine and among European allies about the U.S.-led effort, Rubio said the goal is an agreement that is "acceptable to everyone involved in it, and that obviously includes Ukraine, but also our partners in Europe, and, of course, the Russian side as well."
'High-level teams' will be created to negotiate peace in Ukraine
13:50 , Megan HoweOfficials at talks between Russia and the US have agreed to restore embassy staffing and create a high-level team to negotiate peace in Ukraine and promote economic co-operation, US secretary of state Marco Rubio has said.
Mr Rubio said that actions over the last years have reduced both countries' diplomatic missions' abilities to operate.
He said: "We're going to need to have vibrant diplomatic missions that are able to function normally in order to be able to continue these conduits."
He added: "Should this conflict come to an acceptable end, the incredible opportunities that exist to partner with the Russians geopolitically on issues of common interest and frankly, economically, on issues that hopefully will be good for the world and also improve our relations in the long term.".
He said ending Russia's war in Ukraine would require concessions from all sides.
When asked about sanctions against Russia, he said the measures were imposed as a result of Russia's invasion and that it was not just the US that had imposed them.
He said: "The European Union is going to have to be at the table at some point because they have sanctions as well that have been imposed."
Russia's foreign minister sets out key agreements during talks today
14:06 , Megan HoweRussia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov outlined the three agreements that have been reached in Riyadh today.
1. Envoys to be created for each other’s countries to “remove the barriers erected between the diplomatic missions”
2. To begin the process on Ukrainian settlement
3. Establish the necessary conditions to fully resume cooperation
Lavrov says idea of Ukraine joining Nato is 'direct threat'
14:24 , Megan HoweLavrov said it was noted during the meeting that Donald Trump was the “first of western leaders” to say that “dragging Ukraine into Nato was one of President Biden’s biggest mistakes”.
He reiterated that Putin has already said Ukraine’s involvement in an alliance would act as a “direct threat” to Russia.
Ukraine is not a part of NATO primarily due to geopolitical tensions and the ongoing conflict with Russia. Russia has always opposed the idea of Ukraine joining the alliance because it fears it would bring Nato forces too close to its boarders.
Mistakes must not be made, says President Zelensky
14:36 , Megan HoweSpeaking during a news conference alongside Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan this afternoon, Zelensky said for lasting peace “it is important not to make any mistakes.”
He reiterated it is “fundamentally important that any talk to the end of the war does not happen to the backs of the parties involved".
All parties at the table including America, the UK and Ukraine must be involved.
'No party can win on the battlefield' says Zelensky
14:49 , Megan Howe“It is clear no party can win on the battlefield with weapons,” Zelensky said at a news conference this afternoon.
“This proves that there must be a transition to diplomacy and it must lead to a just peace.”
Zelensky called for a return of war prisoners and security guarantees so “there is no chance of repeating this horrible war.”
“Ukraine will never recognise Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine, or our Crimea and all the important cities and villages. They will not recognise this occupation,” he added.
'Talks about Ukraine, without Ukraine' says Zelensky
14:51 , Megan HoweUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has postponed his trip to Saudi Arabia after it hosted talks between Russia and the US about ending the war in Ukraine.
He criticised the meeting in Saudi Arabia earlier today between US and Russian delegates as they were talks about Ukraine “without Ukraine”.
No Ukrainian officials were invited to the talks. His government advisors have said these are early days.
Zelensky is currently at a news conference in the Turkish capital of Ankara.
Turkey could host future peace talks says Erdogan
14:57 , Megan HoweTurkey’s President Erdogan has offered to host possible future peace talks in Turkey between Russia, Ukraine and the US.
US will not lower troop numbers in eastern Europe, Polish president says
15:51 , Daniel KeaneThe United States has no intention of lowering its troop numbers in eastern Europe, Polish President Andrzej Duda said.
It followed a meeting in Warsaw with US President Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg.
France convenes second meeting on Ukraine with other European nations and Canada
17:11 , Daniel KeaneFrance plans to a host a second meeting to discuss Ukraine and European security on Wednesday, but has this time invited European countries who were not present earlier this week and NATO ally Canada, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.
Two diplomatic sources said the countries invited were Norway, Canada, the three Baltic states (Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia), the Czech Republic, Greece, Finland, Romania, Sweden and Belgium.
Some countries could participate by video conference, two of the diplomats said.
That's all from us today
17:34 , Daniel KeaneThank you for following our live coverage.
