US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio on Monday arrived in Saudi Arabia 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.
Saudi capital, 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.
A US lawmaker says 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.
Russian local media reported that the talks would take place on Tuesday in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
According to local media, 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.
Recall that Rubio on Sunday said the coming weeks and days would determine whether Putin is serious about making peace.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, said he also intended to visit Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
He said he had no plans to meet Russian or U.S. officials and Ukraine is not believed to be invited to the Saudi-hosted talks.
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