That the United States chose to hold talks with Russia about Ukraine without Ukraine sums up the power imbalance that is upending security assumptions for the whole of Europe.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, has consistently warned that Kyiv must have a seat at the negotiating table for any discussions about ending Vladimir Putin‘s war to have a chance of success. His European allies also want to have a voice.

Yet these requests were ignored by Donald Trump and his strongman approach to diplomacy, with the president instead dispatching his top diplomat and two other senior envoys to meet Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

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Mr Zelenskyy, apparently by chance, had been due to embark on a pre-planned trip to the kingdom later that same day.

However, he decided to delay the visit to avoid the appearance of giving any kind of legitimacy to the bilateral encounter between Moscow and Washington.

Unfortunately for Kyiv, beyond noisy protest, it has very limited options when it comes to channelling the disruptive force of the Trump White House in its favour.

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The Ukrainian military remains hugely reliant on US weapons to fight Russia’s invasion and Mr Zelenskyy has made clear he would want an American element in any international security force that might be agreed upon to monitor a ceasefire – even though this is a role the US appears reluctant to fill and the Kremlin has said would be “unacceptable”.

It means Mr Trump has significant leverage over his Ukrainian counterpart which he will surely use to try to force through negotiations even on terms less favourable to Kyiv.

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The US has already reportedly tried to make Ukraine sign away a large portion of its natural resources to pay for US support – an uncomfortable offer that Mr Zelenskyy has so far declined but an indication of the new transactional approach to US foreign policy.

Mr Trump has repeatedly vowed to end Russia’s war in Ukraine – even claiming during the US election campaign that he would do this within 24 hours.

But he never spelled out how.

The past week, however, has offered an indication of the direction of travel and it does not look good for Ukraine.

From unilaterally picking up the phone to Vladimir Putin to sanctioning such a high-level meeting with the Russians in Riyadh, the only currency that seems to matter to the White House is power and right now both Kyiv and its European partners are looking all too weak.

A Florida man has been charged with attempted murder after shooting two Israeli tourists – who he shot at because he thought they were Palestinian. 

Mordechai Brafman, 27, shot at their car 17 times in Miami Beach on Saturday night.

The men in the car – who local media are reporting as father and son – were Israeli visitors unknown to Brafman, according to Miami police. Both survived the attack.

In a police interview, Brafman said he was driving his truck along Miami Beach when he saw two people he assumed were Palestinian – and so he stopped and fired shots, according to police.

Sky News’ US partner network NBC News named the father and son as Yaron and Ari Rabi, respectively.

They report that Ari suffered a gunshot wound to his shoulder, while Yaron suffered a graze wound to his left forearm.

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“It was like a truck passing next to (us)”, Ari told Local 10 media in Miami.

“Boom, boom, boom – and he randomly started shooting.

“He put the window down, driver’s seat, and just blasted (us).”

Ari said he was “happy” and thankful to be alive.

Human rights advocates say there has been a rise in Islamophobic, anti-Palestinian and antisemitism in the US since Israel’s war in Gaza.

Other recent incidents include a man from Illinois stabbing 6-year-old Palestinian-American Wadea al Fayoume 26 times to death – and stabbing his mother a dozen times.

A woman from Texas was also charged with attempted murder – after being accused of trying to drown a three-year-old Palestinian child.

The Duchess of Sussex has relaunched her lifestyle brand under a new name – and shared a rare picture of her daughter Lilibet.

Posting to her recently-created Instagram account, Meghan said she was “thrilled” to be changing the name of her American Riviera Orchard lifestyle brand to As Ever – a project which she “poured my heart into”.

As Ever’s website features an image of Lilibet running outside with her mother, surrounded by nature.

In the Instagram video post, Meghan, who married Prince Harry in 2018, says in the caption that As Ever “means ‘as it’s always been’ or some even say ‘in the same way as always’.

“If you’ve followed along since my days of creating The Tig, you’ll know this couldn’t be truer for me.

“This new chapter is an extension of what has always been my love language, beautifully weaving together everything I cherish – food, gardening, entertaining, thoughtful living, and finding joy in the everyday.”

Her Netflix show With Love, Meghan – which the streamer says “reimagines the genre of lifestyle” – launches in two weeks.

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The former Suits star returned to Instagram after four years on 1 January, when she appeared in a black and white video as she ran along a beach and wrote “2025” in the sand.

She followed it up the next day with the trailer for the upcoming Netflix show, with the message: “I have been so excited to share this with you! I hope you love the show as much as I loved making it.”

The launch of the show was delayed due to the devastating LA wildfires in January.

“I’m thankful to my partners at Netflix for supporting me in delaying the launch, as we focus on the needs of those impacted by the wildfires in my home state of California,” Meghan said at the time in a statement to Tudum, the official companion site to Netflix.

Meghan’s latest post before her video announcing As Ever was on Valentine’s Day, when she posted a picture of her and Harry kissing and said: “My love, I will eat burgers & fries and fish & chips with you forever. Thank you for you.”