President Trump has said that he believes he has the power to end the war in Ukraine. He was speaking after talks were held today in Saudi Arabia, where Russian and American diplomats discussed ending Russia's three-year campaign. More on those talks in a moment. But first, let's go straight to Washington and to our North American editor, Sarah Smith. Sarah, what more did the President say?

Well, he said he thinks he's the only person in the world who can end this war, as well as saying that he has the power to end it, and also repeating that if he had been in the White House three years ago, this war would never have begun. Now, he said that before, but he's always implied that that was because Vladimir Putin would not have dared to invade Ukraine if Donald Trump had been the President of the United States. But speaking a few minutes ago from his Florida residence in Mar-a-Lago, he seemed to be blaming Ukraine for not having made a deal with Russia prior to the invasion. He seemed to be saying that if he had been in office, then he would have He forced the deal that anybody, he said, could have negotiated a better deal where they would have given up a little bit of land, not too much, and been able to avoid this war. Have a listen to what he had to say.

I think I have the power to end this war, and I think it's going very well. But today I heard, Oh, we weren't invited. Well, you've been there for three years. You should have ended it three years. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal. I could have made a deal for Ukraine that would have given them almost all of the land, everything, almost all of the and no people would have been killed, and no city would have been demolished, and not one dome would have been knocked down. But they chose not to do it that way.

Now, of course, when he was saying that Ukraine was complaining about not being invited, that was because they were not part of those talks that took place between America and Russia in Saudi Arabia today. Now, from the State Department, from Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, we heard that those were not negotiations about how to end the war. They were simply talks between America and Russia who will now put together top teams who will speak to each other about the parameters of how the war might end. The Secretary of State was very clear. He said, If they do get to the point of actually negotiating what a peace deal or a ceasefire might look like, at that point, Ukraine will be brought into the talks and some European nations will be consulted. But for now, those talks are very much between only the United States and Russia.

Thank you very much, Sarah Smith there in Washington. While there were extraordinary scenes in Saudi where Russian and American diplomats on opposite sides for so many years held four hours of talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. One of those at the table, the Russian Foreign Minister, is even under US sanctions for the part he's played in the war. The two countries agreed to press ahead with negotiations. The talks are part of a flurry of diplomacy focused on Ukraine this week. Crucially, as you heard, neither Ukraine nor Europe were invited to the talks with US and Russian officials, which took place in Riyadh this morning. Instead, the US envoy, Keith Kellogg, is being dispatched to meet Ukrainian officials separately in Kyiv. While Russia and the US were talking, Ukraine's President, Zelensky, was in Turkey with President Erdoğan. Yesterday, European leaders held an emergency summit in Paris to discuss Ukraine and European security, underlining the unease being felt about President Trump's plans to resolve the war. As State Department correspondent Tom Bateman is traveling with the American delegation and has been covering the meeting in Riyadh.

Face to face in a Saudi Royal Palace, a picture that makes history. Here was the US, the biggest single backer of Ukraine, sitting down with its friend's enemy, Russia. Both sides were silent and stony-faced for the media, but Vladimir Putin's team clearly happy that President Trump had ended their isolation, and the world was about to be shown it. We were brought in for a short amount of time at the very start of the meeting. The doors opened, the press brought in, and then we saw that extraordinary scene. The first time any such face-to-face meeting has taken place at that level in three years. Amid the surging anxiety in Europe over these talks, I shouted questions for Marco Rubio. Is the US sidelining Ukraine, Mr. Secretary?. What concessions will there be asked to Russia, Mr. Secretary? There was no answer, and the doors were firmly closed. If the US was demanding any concessions of Moscow, they weren't telling anyone else today. The Americans call the talks upbeat and constructive. They even had time to eat with the foreign minister they sanction. After this break, there was a working lunch, a symphony of scalops and rib eye steak on the menu.

I came away Are they convinced that they are willing to begin to engage in a serious process to determine how and how quickly and through what mechanism can an end be brought to this war. Whether we can ultimately reach that outcome will obviously depend on every side in this conflict's willingness to agree to certain things.

Russia's foreign minister said both sides had listened and heard each other but gave no sign of conceding anything, demanding not only that Ukraine could never join NATO, but Russia wouldn't tolerate any Western force there.

We explained today the appearance of armed forces from NATO countries under a foreign flag, under the flag of the European Union, or under national flags does not change anything in this regard. This is, of course, unacceptable to us.

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Russia moved from being pariah to partner the US insisting no one is being sidelined. But the negotiating table was just as notable for who wasn't invited, no Ukrainians nor Europeans. President Zelenskyy was instead in Turkey. He's canceled a planned trip to Saudi Arabia.

I am convinced that for Ukraine and for our region, for Europe, that it is critical that any negotiations to end the war are not happening behind the backs of the key parties affected by the Russian aggression. A stark reminder of that before the talks as Russia launched another mass drone attack on Kyiv and elsewhere overnight.

Today's events have so far done nothing to allay the biggest fears in Ukraine of being forced to accept an end to war on Russia's terms, with the peace being carved up between Moscow and Washington. Tom Bateman, BBC News, Riyadh.

Well, in For the moment, we'll speak to our Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg. But first, let's go to our Ukraine correspondent, James Waterhouse, who's in Kyiv for us. James, how are President Trump's latest comments likely to be received there?

To give you an idea, three years ago, it was very difficult for Ukrainians to hear Vladimir Putin announced that he was going to denazify Ukraine by sending in 150,000 troops. They were words and actions that spread fear and anxiety across this country, fears that have endured with the full-scale invasion. Most Ukrainians do not believe the assertion that Russia is ready for peace, despite America and Donald Trump coming to that conclusion repeatedly over the past week as it asserts its new foreign policy. We've just been in the shelter for an hour on another common night where dozens of drones have been launched across Ukraine. Now, we have heard Donald Trump tonight say Ukraine shouldn't started this war, that it should have traded land early on, as you have heard. It was Russia that launched a full-scale invasion off the back of eight years of aggression towards Ukraine when it seized Crimea. These are words that you would expect to come from the Kremlin. Donald Trump talked about elections not being held for a while. It is close to repeating the Kremlin's false claims that President Zelenskyy is an illegitimate leader when elections have legally been postponed under martial law enshrined in Ukraine's Constitution.

I think the words of Donald Trump reflect the fewer places Ukraine has to look as it continues fighting this invasion. President Zelenskyy says he can't do it without weapons. He can't do it without America's help. In Turkey today, he looked visibly irritated, tired, and he argued that you can't have negotiations about Europe and Ukrainian security without either party being involved.

Steve, by contrast, Russia must feel that this is all going their way.

The Russians are delighted, I think, by how things have gone today. They believe that they've already scored a diplomatic victory. The fact that senior US officials sat down with senior Russian officials while Russia was still waging war against Ukraine. That is a sign that Western attempts to isolate Russia have failed and that Russia has come back onto the global stage with its leader. I was watching one of the main political talk shows on Russian state television tonight, and one of the guests stood up and said this. He said, The events in Riyadh are a triumph for Putin's foreign policy. I congratulate all Russians on having such a president. Well, it was state television. But what about the war in Ukraine? Russia continues to push for an end to the war on Russia's terms, and those terms basically amount to Ukraine giving everything up. Russia. Today, the day of the talks, Russia hardened its demand. Now, not only does Russia say no Ukraine in NATO, it's demanding that NATO disavow its promise from 2008 that Ukraine could one day join the NATO Alliance?

Steve in Moscow and James in Kyiv. Thank you both very much. Well, the issue of how to keep the peace in Ukraine in the event of an agreement has been preoccupying European leaders. Sakeer Starmer has said he would consider deploying UK troops to Ukraine, although, as you heard, Russia's foreign minister said his country wouldn't accept having peacekeeping forces from NATO countries in Ukraine under any peace deal. Our defense correspondence, Jonathan Beale, has been with British troops in Romania, which borders Ukraine, where they're training for all eventualities.

These troops know they may be sent into danger.

Part of Britain's high readiness force, training with European NATO allies in Romania.

The border with Ukraine is just 16 miles away. They're already learning the lessons, the return of trench warfare. But they also know they could be called on to help secure a peace in Ukraine.

This brigade is absolutely ready. My brigade back in the UK is ready. But clearly, what that force package would look like, we'd be dependent upon what the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense would like. We are ready.

But you couldn't do it on your own?

Absolutely not. I think the Prime Minister has been very clear that the UK would contribute to efforts. We're absolutely not doing it on our own.

From training in trenches in Romania to potentially real ones in Ukraine. Kiyastam has said he's ready and willing to put British troops in harm's way, if necessary, to secure peace in Ukraine. But the question is, does Britain, does Europe not just have the will, but the numbers, too? This is NATO's largest exercise of the year involving 10,000 military personnel from eight European countries. That's just 10% of the numbers that many defense experts say will be needed to police any ceasefire in Ukraine. The US, NATO's most powerful military partner, is not directly involved in the exercise, and the Trump administration says it won't be putting any less boots on the ground in Ukraine either. A worry for allies.

In the end, it is only the US that can provide the deterrence to Putin that will prevent him attacking again.

Afghanistan was the last big test for the British Army. Even that stretched resources for a regular army that was then more than 100,000 strong. Now it's down to just over 70,000. But if the call of duty comes, it might help turn around its current struggle with recruitment and retention. You wouldn't worry about going to Ukraine?

No, I think I'd be okay. People have joined the army for a reason. You see by talking to people here, everyone's more than confident.

Ukraine be a wake-up call for European nations, now being urge to spend more on defense. Support for Ukraine comes with a price. Jonathan Beale, BBC News, Galat.