In an attempt to come up with a response to Donald Trump’s proposal to start talks with Vladimir Putin to end the war, European leaders are gathering in France.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are scheduled to meet in the Saudi capital on Tuesday.
Neither round of negotiations will include Ukraine.
Russia now occupies almost a fifth of Ukraine, mostly in the south and east, after launching a full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
What major powers hope to achieve from two days of intense diplomacy is examined by correspondents.
European leaders are in Paris on Monday.
The United Kingdom
By London-based political correspondent Harry Farley.
