Putin ready to talk to Zelenskyy ‘if necessary’, says Kremlin as Russia-US talks get underway in Saudi Arabia

With the goal of finding solutions to end the Ukraine war, officials from Russia and the US met in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh on Tuesday. Notably, a key country is missing from the talks - Ukraine. 

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier that his nation wouldn't agree on any outcome if Kyiv were not part of the meeting.  

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's meeting is underway in Riyadh to explore possible ways of finding a resolution to ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

Also read | Why Saudi Arabia was chosen by Donald Trump as the venue for Ukraine peace talks

As the meeting is underway, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia is not against Ukraine joining the European Union as it does not see this as a threat to its security. 

"This is the sovereign right of any country. We are talking about integration and economic processes, and here, of course, no one can dictate anything to any country. We're not going to do that," Peskov says.

"Our stance on matters related to security, defence or military alliances is completely different," he added. 

Kremlin also said that Vladimir Putin is prepared to talk to Zelenskyy "if necessary". 

"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 Zelenskyy's legitimacy can be questioned." 

Meanwhile, France called an emergency meeting of European Union countries, and the UK on Monday to decide on how to respond. 

Following the meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday spoke to US President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy over the phone. 

We seek a strong and lasting peace in Ukraine, Macron wrote on X. 

"We seek a strong and lasting peace in Ukraine. To achieve this, Russia must end its aggression, and this must be accompanied by strong and credible security guarantees for the Ukrainians. Otherwise, there is a risk that this ceasefire will end up like the Minsk agreements," he wrote.