Top U.S. and Russian diplomats spent hours in talks on Tuesday, leaving both Ukraine and the European Union out of the start of a conversation that could have serious implications for continental security and the fate of Europe's largest land war in decades.

During the G-20 summit in India in September 2023, India, the United States, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Italy, and the European Union (EU) announced plans to create the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and signed the IMEC memorandum.

Ukrainian and European Union leaders not invited to Russia-US talks in Riyadh.

Russia told the United States on Tuesday that settling the war in Ukraine required a reorganisation of Europe's defence agreements, as the superpowers met in Saudi Arabia without Kyiv or the EU. Moscow has long called for the withdrawal of NATO forces from Eastern Europe,

Washington said Russia and the United States will name teams to negotiate a path to ending the war in Ukraine as soon as possible, as the superpowers met on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia without Kyiv or the EU.