Saudi Arabia's crown prince wasn't in the room for the first high-level talks between Russia and the United States over Moscow's war on Ukraine on Tuesday, but Mohammed bin Salman still won the day for hosting the gathering that could be a game-changer in the bloody conflict.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy postponed his visit to Saudi Arabia in order to not give "legitimacy" to Tuesday's meeting between U.S. and Russian officials in Riyadh, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Three Americans and two Russians made up the two teams at the talks in Saudi Araba that have underscored an end to Western isolation of Moscow. The men described the meeting as preparing the groundwork for broader "high-level" talks and agreed to reset their countries' diplomatic relations.