U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives in Saudi Arabia on Monday ahead of expected talks with Russian officials aimed at ending Moscow's nearly three-year war in Ukraine, UNN reports citing Reuters.
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The talks come after US President Donald Trump spoke with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by phone last week and ordered top officials to begin negotiations over the war he repeatedly promised to end during his presidential campaign.
Riyadh, which is also involved in talks with Washington on the future of Gaza, is said to have played a role in the first contacts between the Trump administration, which took office on January 20, and Moscow, helping to secure a prisoner exchange last week.
US Chief Diplomat Rubio, who spoke by phone on Saturday with his Russian counterpart, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, is scheduled to meet with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia, along with Trump's National Security Adviser Mike Volz and White House Middle East Special Representative Steve Witkoff, a US lawmaker and a source told Reuters. It was not immediately clear who they would meet with from Russia.
Russian and US delegations to meet in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday17.02.25, 04:19 • [views_85386]
According to the newspaper, these talks will be one of the first high-level personal discussions in many years between Russian and American officials and should precede a meeting between the US and Russian presidents.
On Sunday, Rubio said that the coming weeks and days will determine whether Putin is serious about making peace.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also in the region. Zelenskiy, who arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, said he also intends to visit Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but no dates have been set. He said he did not plan to meet with Russian or US officials, and "it is believed that Ukraine will not be invited to the talks organized by Saudi Arabia," the newspaper writes.
Rubio is expected to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia. The agenda is likely to include Trump's proposal to relocate Palestinian residents of Gaza to other Arab countries and for the United States to lead the rebuilding of their homes.
This proposal angered the Arab world and increased the fears of Palestinians in Gaza of being expelled from the coastal strip, the newspaper points out.
Rubio visited Israel on Sunday and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pledging to support Israel in its regional rivalry with Iran.