Russian rouble weakens as Russia-U.S. talks begin in Riyadh

Feb 18 (Reuters) - The Russian rouble weakened against the dollar on Tuesday as Russian and U.S. officials met in Saudi Arabia for the most significant talks to date between the two former Cold War foes on ending Moscow's war in Ukraine.

At 0807 GMT, the rouble was down 0.8% at 90.33 against the dollar on the Moscow Exchange, though still close to a five-month high reached last week.

It was also down 0.6% against China's yuan, the most traded foreign currency in Russia.

The Russian currency has gained about 20% against the dollar this year, mostly on expectations of easing geopolitical tensions between Russia and the West.