Speaking during a visit to Turkiye, Lavrov stated that the peace talks should include an "ironclad" agreement that Ukraine will not join NATO. At the same time, Russia "will not be satisfied" with the option of "peace at once,

US and Russian diplomats are likely to meet next week in a follow up to the Riyadh talks between the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the US secretary of State Marco Rubio, reported Russian News agency TASS.

As European countries discuss the possibility of contributing peacekeepers to back any Ukraine peace deal, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said in Riyadh that Russia would not accept deployment of NATO troops there, whatever flag they were operating under.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he’s “ready” to resign if it means bringing peace to his country, also suggesting he could step down in exchange for ascension into the NATO alliance.

For context:Ukraine is not a Nato member. Russia has consistently opposed the idea of Ukraine joining the military alliance, fearing it would bring Nato forces too close to its borders. "It was a very useful conversation. We listened to each other, and we heard each other," Lavrov tells the news conference.

Russia on Tuesday demanded NATO scrap its 2008 promise to one day give Ukraine membership of the U.S.-led NATO military alliance and dismissed the idea that NATO member forces could be keepers of the peace under some sort of ceasefire deal.

While U.S. officials characterized the talks as the first step in a peace deal, the Russians are portraying them as a way to end Moscow’s isolation.

Officials feasted on lamb and knafeh cheesecake with US representatives while Ukraine was frozen out of negotiations

US President Donald Trump called Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky “a dictator,” escalating a public war of words between the two leaders that started when Trump falsely accused Ukraine of starting the war with Russia.

Ukrainian president also rules out US-Ukraine minerals deal if it meant repaying Washington for military aid already provided under Biden