US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has arrived in Saudi Arabia for talks with Russian officials, aiming to address the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The discussions follow recent efforts by President Donald Trump to initiate peace negotiations.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday ahead of expected talks with Russian officials aimed at ending Moscow's nearly three-year war in Ukraine.
The talks come after President Donald Trump last week spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone and ordered top officials to begin negotiations on the war, which he repeatedly vowed to end during his presidential campaign.
Riyadh, which is also involved in talks with Washington over the future of the Gaza Strip, has played a role in early contacts between the Trump administration, which took office on January 20, and Moscow, helping to secure a prisoner swap last week.
US top diplomat Rubio, who spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday, will meet Russian officials in Saudi Arabia alongside Trump's national security adviser Mike Waltz and White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, a US lawmaker and a source told Reuters. It was not immediately clear who they would meet from Russia.
Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that the talks would take place on Tuesday in the Saudi capital Riyadh, citing unnamed sources.
The talks will be among the first high-level in-person discussions in years between Russian and US officials and are meant to precede a meeting between the US and Russian presidents.
Rubio on Sunday said the coming weeks and days would determine whether Putin is serious about making peace.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is also in the region. Zelenskiy, who arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, said he also intended to visit Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but no dates were set. He said he had no plans to meet Russian or US officials and Ukraine is not believed to be invited to the Saudi-hosted talks.
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