US President Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg has said that no one would impose a peace deal on Kyiv and that questions about whether Washington would provide guarantees for any future European peacekeepers would be addressed later.
Senior US officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio - but not Mr Kellogg - are due to meet tomorrow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for talks focused on ending the war in Ukraine and on Russia-US ties.
Mr Kellogg, who said he would visit Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv this week, told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels that nobody would impose a deal "on an elected leader of a sovereign nation".
He also reiterated that he was speaking with European allies, who have been pushing to be included in negotiations, but that in his view it was not feasible to have everyone sitting at the table.
European officials have been shocked by the Trump administration's moves in recent days to court Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost three years ago, triggering a barrage of Western sanctions and ostracism.
Washington has sent a questionnaire to European capitals to ask what they could contribute to security guarantees for Kyiv, adding urgency to discussions among European allies on how to respond to changing US policy.
The leaders of France, Britain, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands as well as top officials from NATO and the European Union held an emergency meeting in Paris today.
Britain, Sweden and Germany said they were open to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, given a clear and acceptable mandate. Many officials have stressed they would only consider sending troops to Ukraine if the US provided a security guarantee.
Asked whether the US would do this, Mr Kellogg said: "I've been with President Trump, and the policy has always been: You take no options off the table."
"Before any type of discussion and security guarantees is finalised, of course those discussions are going to take place," he said. "Answers to those questions will be determined as you come up with the final process."
Zelensky dismisses talks between US and Russia
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed planned talks between the US and Russia on ending the war in Ukraine, reiterating that Kyiv should be involved in any discussions about its own future.
His comments came as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia ahead of the high-stakes talks between American and Russian officials which have spurred Ukraine's concerns that it could be left out of a peace process.
The Kremlin said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin foreign policy adviser who has also been ambassador to Washington, would meet US officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Saudi Arabia tomorrow.
Alongside Mr Rubio at the Riyadh talks will be National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. The talks will be among the first high-level, in-person discussions in years between Russian and US officials.
"Ukraine will not take part. Ukraine did not know anything about it," he told reporters in a virtual briefing from the United Arab Emirates, where he was on a state visit.
"Ukraine regards any negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine as ones that have no result, and we cannot recognise ... any agreements about us without us."
The Kremlin has said it was sending President Vladimir Putin's top diplomat and his chief foreign policy advisor to Riyadh for the talks, which would aim to pave the way for a meeting between US and Russian leaders.
Mr Zelensky said he would be visiting Saudi Arabia on Wednesday but that his state visit was planned in advance and had nothing to do with the US-Russian talks.
The Ukrainian leader also called for stronger American security guarantees as part of a critical minerals deal opening up Ukraine's vast natural wealth in exchange for US support.
Mr Zelensky said he would invite Mr Trump's Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg to the front line to meet with troops during a trip slated for Thursday.
Russia rules out territorial concessions
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has ruled out territorial concessions to Ukraine, setting out a tough opening stance on the eve of tomorrow's talks.
Mr Lavrov said there would be no talk of territorial concessions to Ukraine, around 20% of which is controlled by Russian forces.
"Territorial concessions to what is now called Ukraine were made by the Soviet leadership during the formation of the USSR," Mr Lavrov said before heaping scorn on a Ukrainian bid to do a deal giving the United States access to minerals.
"How should we give in - with Russian people or with rare earth metals?" Mr Lavrov said.
Reuters reported in November that Mr Putin was ready to negotiate a deal with Mr Trump, but would refuse to make major territorial concessions and would insist Kyiv abandon ambitions to join NATO.
A source with knowledge of Kremlin thinking said that Mr Putin was serious about doing a deal, but not at any price.
The Kremlin said the talks would focus on restoring Russian-US relations and preparations for possible talks on ending the war.
The administration of US president Joe Biden, most EU leaders and Ukraine cast Russia's war as a land grab aimed at restoring Russian power. Kyiv and some EU leaders say that if Mr Putin wins, he could try to attack NATO.
Russia dismisses that interpretation and denies any such plan. Mr Putin says his "special military operation" was needed to protect Russian speakers in Ukraine and counter what he said was the threat from potential Ukrainian NATO membership.
The United States shocked European leaders last week by saying that Ukraine's place was not in NATO, that a return to its pre-2014 borders was unrealistic and that Europe would not be part of negotiations with Russia and Ukraine.
Mr Lavrov said he saw no role for Europe at the table: "If they're going to come up with some crafty ideas about freezing the conflict like this, and they themselves ...have in mind the continuation of the war, then why invite them?"
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he is ready to put peacekeeping troops in Ukraine, with European leaders meeting in Paris tomorrow to discuss Europe's role in a ceasefire.
