The U.S. and Russia have agreed to further talks on ending the war in Ukraine, after officials from both countries met in Saudi Arabia. During the meeting, Russia insisted it will not accept Ukraine joining NATO, while the U.S. said concessions would be needed to find a lasting peace. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will reject any peace deal made without Kyiv's involvement.
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00:00Face to face, top diplomats from the US and Russia talk Ukraine, as they met in the Saudi
00:05capital Riyadh.
00:07It's the first direct negotiations between Washington and Moscow since Vladimir Putin
00:11launched his invasion of Ukraine almost three years ago.
00:14I came away today convinced that they are willing to begin to engage in a serious process
00:19to determine how and how quickly and through what mechanism can an end be brought to this
00:25war.
00:26Whether we can ultimately reach that outcome will obviously depend on every side in this
00:31conflict's willingness to agree to certain things.
00:34But Ukraine was left out of the almost five hour meeting, where Russia made a series of
00:38demands to do with territory, also insisting it would not accept Ukraine being admitted
00:42to the NATO military alliance.
00:45Since its full scale invasion, Russia now occupies about 20% of Ukraine's north and
00:50east.
00:51The US reiterated that concessions of Ukrainian territory may need to be made to find a permanent
00:56end to the war, and that they're pushing for security guarantees to ensure the conflict
01:01cannot reignite.
01:25Also left out of the discussion, Ukraine's European neighbors, who are now considering
01:30boosting their spending to help the country's defense.
01:33US negotiators say they're in contact with European officials and insist no one is being
01:38sidelined, least of all Ukraine.
01:40concerns dismissed by US President Donald Trump.
02:10After an emergency summit with European leaders, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer suggested sending
02:15British peacekeepers to Kiev when a deal is struck, a move that the US President said
02:20he was open to.
02:21But Moscow quickly ruled that out.
02:46As diplomatic efforts to end the conflict ramp up, the peace talks get support from
02:50another global power.
03:00As Moscow and Washington forge ahead with negotiations, Trump confirmed he would probably
03:04meet Putin before the end of this month.
03:07And Europe is also rallying, planning to hold another summit on Ukraine and the continent's
03:12security, this time inviting NATO ally Canada, as it continues to push for all Western allies
03:19to work together to find a lasting end to the conflict.
03:22Yixin Chen and Rosie Greninger for Taiwan Plus.