Russian officials have arrived in Riyadh for high-level talks on the Ukraine-Russia war, marking a significant step toward direct negotiations between Washington and Moscow

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and presidential aide Yuri Ushakov have arrived in Riyadh for a meeting with U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to discuss negotiations on the Ukraine-Russia war.

Rubio has already arrived in the Saudi capital and will be joined by U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

The meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, is one of the first high-level, in-person discussions in years between Russian and U.S. officials and is intended to lay the groundwork for a future meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents.

The talks follow a phone call last week between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which Trump ordered top officials to initiate negotiations on the war—an issue he repeatedly vowed to resolve during his presidential campaign.

Meanwhile, European leaders are holding an emergency summit in Paris focused on resolving the war in Ukraine.

The summit follows growing concerns that the United States is pushing forward with negotiations that could sideline Europe from the process.

Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine has stated that while European leaders will be consulted, they will not participate directly in the U.S.-Russia talks. He attributed past negotiation failures to the involvement of too many parties.

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