Trump and Putin 'ready to carve up' Ukraine as meeting 'shows where power lies'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are ready to "carve up" Ukraine as the crucial meeting between top officials "shows where the power lies", an expert has said.On Tuesday, top diplomats from Russia and the US met in Saudi Arabia to discuss negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine - despite not having any officials from Kyiv at the table.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other senior officials attended the meeting, reports the Mirror.Following the meeting, it was confirmed US and Russia have agreed to appoint "high level teams" to begin working on ending the war in Ukraine, according to the US State Department.

They said both countries need to "establish a consultation mechanism to address irritants to our bilateral relationship with the objective of taking steps necessary to normalise the operation of our respective diplomatic missions."However, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed Ukraine won’t accept any outcome from the talks if his country doesn’t take part.

European allies have also expressed their dismay at being ignored.Head of Department of International Politics at City, University of London, Professor Inderjeet Parmar, believes the meeting between US and Russia officials shows "where the power lies" as the countries look to strike a deal which benefits them economically.He told The Mirror: "(Given) that Ukraine, NATO and the EU has been excluded from the US-Russia meeting in Riyadh indicates where power lies.