9 March 2025, 09:30 | Updated: 9 March 2025, 11:44

By John Lough

During his election campaign, Donald Trump said that he could end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours.

Now that US negotiators are meeting next week with counterparts from Russia and Ukraine in Riyadh, President Trump’s optimism is about to be tested.

Bringing the parties to the negotiating table is the easy part. Trump has bullied the Ukrainians into starting talks by publicly haranguing President Zelensky and cutting off military aid.

By contrast, he has secured the Russians’ interest by dangling the carrot of lifting sanctions.

US involvement in peace negotiations is highly significant because Russia wants to talk to the US not just........

© LBC