Riyadh talks sidelined Kyiv and Europe

What did it mean when Washington and Moscow sat down to discuss the war in Ukraine with neither Kyiv nor European capitals in the room? On 18 February 2025, the United States and Russia opened talks in Saudi Arabia on precisely that basis.

A delegation to Riyadh

Two days earlier, on 16 February, it had been reported that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio would lead a delegation to Riyadh for initial talks with Russia. It included National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. A Russian source said the meeting would take place on 18 February and that Moscow's side was expected to include Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov and SVR Director Sergey Naryshkin.

The talks went ahead on that date. The delegations agreed to start a negotiating process for ending the war, to create high-level teams, and to normalise diplomatic and economic ties between the two countries.

Europe responds

The European reaction had begun the day before. On 17 February, European leaders gathered in France for a summit on Ukraine, after the US administration announced the opening of peace talks with Russia without European participation. That same day Lavrov said Europe had no role in any negotiations on ending the war.

The contrast was stark: European leaders were meeting to work out a response, while the Russian foreign minister was ruling out a European seat at the table.

The election question

On 18 February, US President Donald Trump also called for a new presidential election in Ukraine as part of a peace deal with Russia. Ukraine's presidential election had been due in March or April 2024, but none was held. Martial law has been in force since 24 February 2022, and Ukrainian law does not allow presidential elections while it applies. Parliament has extended martial law in 90-day intervals; it was later extended for the 20th time, until 31 October 2026.

War continued during the diplomacy

The fighting did not pause for the diplomacy. On 16 February, Russia launched drone strikes across Ukraine, injuring at least one person and damaging a thermal power station in Mykolaiv, which left 46,000 people without heat. Ukraine said it shot down 95 of 143 drones and disrupted 46 others with electronic countermeasures.

Why the day stands out

The Riyadh meeting set out a process: high-level teams, a commitment to start negotiations and a plan to restore bilateral ties. Yet the parties most directly affected by the war, Ukraine and its European neighbours, were not at the table. Together with the call for an election in Ukraine, that made 18 February 2025 a day on which questions of who negotiates and who decides moved to the centre of the debate over how the war might end.