Russia and the United States agreed on Tuesday to establish teams to negotiate a path to ending the war in Ukraine after talks that drew a strong rebuke from Kyiv over its exclusion.

Washington noted European nations would have to have a seat at the negotiating table "at some point", following the first high-level official Washington-Moscow talks since the 2022 war in Ukraine.

Some European leaders, alarmed by President Donald Trump's overhaul of US policy on Russia, fear Washington will make serious concessions to Moscow and re-write the continent's security arrangement in a Cold War-style deal.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky slammed his nation's exclusion from the Riyadh gathering, which lasted for more than four hours.

He said that any talks aimed at ending the war should be "fair" and involve European countries, including Turkey - which offered to host negotiations.

"This will only be feeding Putin's appetite," a Ukrainian senior official requesting anonymity said, referring to the launch of talks without Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed to "appoint respective high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible", the State Department said.

Washington added the sides had also agreed to "establish a consultation mechanism" to address "irritants" to Russia and America's relationship, noting the sides would lay the groundwork for future cooperation.

Yuri Ushakov, President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy aide, confirmed the negotiating teams' appointment but said it was "difficult" to discuss a date for a potential Trump-Putin meeting.

Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump brushed aside Ukraine's concern about being left out of the meeting and suggested he could meet President Putin shortly.

He said he was now more confident of a deal to end the Ukraine war after the talks.

The meeting marks a major diplomatic coup for Moscow, which had been isolated for three years under the previous US administration of president Joe Biden. (AFP)