Top US and Russian diplomats met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for talks on resetting their fractured relations, the first such discussions since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.Both sides downplayed expectations of a breakthrough in this first high-level meeting between the countries since US President Donald Trump took office.Still, the very fact the encounter is taking place has triggered concern in Ukraine and Europe following the United States’ recent overtures towards the Kremlin.At Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, the talks began without visible handshakes, and no statements were made.A stern-faced US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat across from Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, with US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff by his side.Lavrov was accompanied by senior Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and national security adviser Musaad bin Mohammad al-Aiban also attended.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv was not invited to the discussions. European leaders met in Paris on Monday for emergency talks on how to respond to the radical pivot by the new Trump administration.Preparations for a possible summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are also expected to be on the agenda.Trump is pushing for a swift resolution to the three-year conflict in Ukraine, while Russia sees his outreach as a chance to win concessions.Zelensky said Kyiv “did not know anything about” the talks in Riyadh, according to Ukrainian news agencies, and that it “cannot recognise any things or any agreements about us without us”.As the Riyadh meeting got underway, the Kremlin said a lasting settlement in Ukraine would be “impossible” without addressing the wider issue of European security and that Ukraine had the “sovereign right” to join the European Union but that it was opposed to it joining NATO.”A lasting and long-term viable resolution is impossible without a comprehensive consideration of security issues on the continent,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding Putin was ready to talk to Zelensky “if necessary”.In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun welcomed “efforts towards peace” in Ukraine, adding that “at the same time, we hope that all parties and stakeholders can participate” in talks.Russia said ahead of the meeting that Putin and Trump wanted to move on from “abnormal relations” and that it saw no place for Europeans to be at any negotiating table.- Possible Trump-Putin summit -Moscow’s economic negotiator for talks with Washington, Kirill Dmitriev, told state TV on Tuesday that he expected “progress in the not so distant future, in the next two-three months”.”We have a series of proposals, which our colleagues are thinking about,” said Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.Peskov earlier told reporters the Riyadh talks would be “primarily devoted to restoring the whole complex of Russian-American relations”, alongside discussions on “possible negotiations on a Ukrainian resolution, and organising a meeting between the two presidents”.Moscow, which for years has sought to roll back NATO’s presence in Europe, has made clear it wants to hold bilateral talks with the United States on a plethora of broad security issues, not just a possible Ukraine ceasefire.The prospects of any talks leading to an agreement to halt the Ukraine fighting are unclear.Three years after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, both Russia and the United States have cast Tuesday’s meeting as the beginning of a potentially lengthy process.”I don’t think that people should view this as something that is about details or moving forward in some kind of a negotiation,” US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.Russia’s Ushakov told state media the talks would discuss “how to start negotiations on Ukraine.”- Europe meeting ‘not an option’ -Both Ukraine and Russia have ruled out territorial concessions and Putin last year demanded Kyiv withdraw its troops from even more territory.Zelensky was in Turkey on Tuesday for discussions on the conflict with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He is due in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.Zelensky said last week he was prepared to meet Putin, but only after Kyiv and its allies had a common position on ending the war.As European leaders gathered in Paris for an emergency security summit, Russia’s Lavrov said Monday he saw no point in them taking part in any Ukraine talks.The significance of the talks taking place in Riyadh — once a diplomatic pariah under the former US administration — was not lost on analysts.”Europe’s the traditional meeting place for the Americans and the Russians, but that’s not an option in the current environment,” said James Dorsey of the National University of Singapore. “You either go to Asia or you go to Saudi Arabia,” he said.Moscow heads into the talks boosted by recent gains on the battlefield, while Kyiv also faces the prospect of losing vital US military aid, long criticised by Trump.burs-jc/ami/dv

Faced with myriad problems including gridlocked traffic and a sinking earth surface in its current capital, Iran is considering a drastic solution — moving it to an altogether different location on the Gulf of Oman.Though the idea of moving the capital has cropped up on various occasions since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the proposals were repeatedly shelved as unrealistic due to the massive financial and logistical hurdles.But reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, who took office in July, has recently revived the idea, citing Tehran’s growing challenges.These include traffic snarls, water shortages, resource mismanagement, extreme air pollution, as well as subsidence — the gradual sinking of land mass due to either natural processes or human activity.In January, government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said the authorities were studying the possible relocation.”The Makran region is being seriously considered,” she said, without specifying a timeline.Makran is a largely undeveloped coastal area on the Gulf of Oman, stretching across Iran’s southern, impoverished Sistan-Baluchistan province and part of neighbouring Hormozgan province. It has repeatedly been touted as a frontrunner for the move.”The ‘lost paradise’ of Makran must be transformed into the future economic hub of Iran and the region,” said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in a Sunday speech.In September, Pezeshkian said “we have no choice but to move the economic and political centre of the country to the south and near the sea”.Tehran’s problems had “only worsened with the continuation of existing policies”.- ‘Safe and appropriate’  -The revival of relocation plans has reignited a debate over their necessity, with many highlighting Tehran’s historic and strategic significance.Lawmaker Ali Khazaei said that whatever future city is chosen, it must take into consideration Iran’s “rich culture”. Tehran, designated the capital by Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar in 1786, has served as Iran’s political, administrative and cultural hub for over two centuries.Tehran province is currently home to around 18 million people, as well as a floating population of about two million people who commute there during the daytime, according to governor Mohammad Sadegh Motamedian.The landlocked city sits on a sloping plateau at the foot of the snow-capped Alborz mountain range, blending modern high-rises with historic palaces, bustling bazaars and leafy parks.Makran is meanwhile known for its fishing villages, sandy beaches and ancient history dating back to the time of Alexander the Great. Still, many oppose the possible relocation.”This would be a completely wrong move because Tehran really represents Iran,” said 28-year-old engineer Kamyar Babaei, a resident of the capital.”This city is a symbol of the historic Qajar dynasty… a symbol of modernity, and of urban life,” he added. Similarly, urban planning professor Ali Khaksar Rafsanjani noted Tehran’s “strategic location”. The city “is safe and appropriate in emergency and war situations”, he told the reformist Etemad newspaper, adding that Makran is on the other hand “very vulnerable” as it sits on the Gulf of Oman.Former Tehran mayor Pirouz Hanachi says the capital’s problems “can be solved” and only required “investment” and taking measures to develop the city. There was no official estimate for the budget required to tackle Tehran’s urban challenges. But in April 2024, then-interior minister Ahmad Vahidi said relocating the capital could require a budget of “around $100 billion”, according to Tehran municipality news website Hamshahri.- ‘Economic hub’ -The local ISNA news agency weighed the pros and cons of moving to Makran, saying the region holds “the potential of becoming an important commercial and economic hub”.But it also noted that the relocation would add to Iran’s already heavy financial burdens, in part the result of decades of international sanctions.Etemad also listed among the advantages of moving to Makran “regional development, access to open water, and reduced vulnerability to earthquakes,” as opposed to Tehran which is prone to seismic activity.  But it pointed to the heavy costs and disruption of lives, noting that the move would pose massive logistical challenges.Another outlet, Khabar Online, also pointed to the Makran region’s vulnerability to climate change. “Climate changes and a lack of water resources in the Makran region, combined with rising temperatures and declining rainfall, have created very fragile environmental conditions that limit the potential of extensive development,” it reported, quoting ecologist Hossein Moradi.For Banafsheh Keynoush, a fellow at the International Institute for Iranian Studies, the choice of Makran could reflect broader strategic ambitions. “By selecting Makran as possibly the next capital, Iran aims to compete with seaports like Dubai and Gwadar” in neighbouring Pakistan, she said in a post on X.She added that it would provide a boost to the nearby coastal city of Chabahar “despite sanctions” and, crucially, “reassert [Iran’s] role in the Persian Gulf waterway”.