US and Russia will appoint teams to negotiate ending Ukraine war, US says after talks

BBC Live Summary

The US and Russia will appoint teams to negotiate ending the Ukraine war, the US State Department says, following high-level talks in Saudi Arabia.

The four-hour meeting was "positive, constructive", a Russian at the talks says.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the talks are the "first step of a long and difficult journey, but an important one".

Rubio met Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov - neither Ukraine nor Europe were invited.

Earlier, I asked Rubio whether the US was sidelining Ukraine - he didn't answer, writes our correspondent in Riyadh, Tom Bateman.

The Kremlin says Vladimir Putin is prepared to speak to Volodymyr Zelensky "if necessary"; Zelensky has repeatedly said he won't recognise a peace deal negotiated without Ukraine.