The Trump administration is moving quickly to initiate a cease-fire and bring an end the war in Ukraine.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his advisers will meet a group of senior Russian officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the Kremlin announced Monday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the meeting would discuss restoring diplomatic ties between Washington and Moscow, and negotiating a peaceful settlement to the conflict in Ukraine.
Peskov said the meeting would also lay the groundwork for a meeting between President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
He said Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would lead Moscow’s delegation and would be joined by Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov. The pair are due to fly to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Monday.
Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steven Witkoff, told Fox News Sunday he would take part in the meeting, along with national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Peskov said the talks will be primarily focused on “restoring the entire complex of U.S.-Russian relations, as well as preparing possible talks on the Ukrainian settlement and organizing a meeting of the two presidents.”
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The Trump administration is moving quickly to initiate a cease-fire and bring an end the war in Ukraine, which began when Russia invaded on Feb. 24, 2022.
The Biden administration had broken off ties with Russia and refused to negotiate with Moscow until Putin withdrew all his forces from Ukrainian territory.
Following phone calls on Feb. 12, Trump announced Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were ready to come to the negotiating table to begin carving out an ultimate end to the conflict.
But Zelenskyy, speaking to journalists on a conference call from the United Arab Emirates, said Ukraine had not been invited to Tuesday’s talks and he said they would therefore, “yield no results.”
Last week Trump told reporters in the Oval Office: “I think president Putin wants peace, and president Zelenskyy wants peace, and I want peace. I just want to see people stop being killed.”
On Sunday, Trump told reporters Zelenskyy “will be involved” in the talks but it is not clear if they will have a seat at the table during Tuesday’s discussions in Saudi Arabia.
A Ukrainian delegation is in Riyadh, to pave the way for a possible visit by Zelenskyy, a Ukrainian official has said.
Zelenskyy has said he will not accept the outcome of any negotiations which do not involve Ukraine. The European Union and European members of NATO have also demanded at least observer status.
Witkoff Seeks ‘Good Progress’
Speaking on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” program, Witkoff said he hoped Tuesday’s talks would make, “some really good progress with regard to Russia-Ukraine.”
Witkoff did not respond to questions about whether Ukraine would have to give up a “significant portion” of its territory.
“Those are details, and I’m not dismissive of the details, they’re important. But I think the beginning here is trust-building. It’s getting everybody to understand that this war does not belong continuing, that it should end. That’s what the president has directed us to do,” he said.
On Saturday, Mykhailo Podolyak, a Zelenskyy adviser, denied Ukraine would be involved in the meeting.
“There is nothing on the negotiating table that would be worth discussing,” he told Ukrainian television.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
