US and Russia meet without Ukraine; Moscow makes new demand

U.S. and Russian officials met on Tuesday in Riyadh for their first talks on ending the war in Ukraine, as Kyiv and its European allies watched anxiously from the sidelines and Moscow raised a new demand that NATO formally disavow a membership promise it made to Ukraine in 2008. The talks in the Saudi capital underscored the rapid pace of U.S. efforts to halt the conflict, less than a month after President Donald Trump took office and six days after he spoke by phone to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine and European leaders are worried that Trump could cut a hasty deal with Moscow that ignores their security interests, rewards Russia for invading its neighbour and leaves Putin free to threaten Ukraine or other countries in the future.