US and Russian officials will meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to start talks aimed at ending the war of almost three years in Moscow in Ukraine, American legislator and a familiar source with the planning indicated on Saturday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who met the American vice-president JD Vance in Germany on Friday, said that Ukraine was not invited to talks in Saudi Arabia and that kyiv would not engage with Russia before consulting strategic partners.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and the Middle East Witkoff’s Middle East envoy will go to Saudi Arabia, American representative Michael McCaul told Reuters. He was not immediately clear who they would meet Russia.
On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, McCaul said that the goal of talks was to organize a meeting between US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskiy “to finally bring peace and put an end to this conflict ยป.
A source knowing the plans has confirmed the talks planned in Saudi Arabia between us and the Russian officials. The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
Trump, who took office on January 20, has repeatedly promised to end the Ukraine war quickly. He made separate telephone calls to Putin and Zelenskiy on Wednesday, leaving the European alarmed Washington alarms that they are cut off from any peace process.
These fears were widely confirmed on Saturday when Trump’s Ukrainian envoy said Europe would not have a headquarters at the table after Washington sent a questionnaire to European capitals to ask what they could contribute to the guarantees security for kyiv.
Deal Minerals
Earlier on Saturday, Rubio spoke with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. They agreed with regular contacts to prepare for a meeting between Putin and Trump, said the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Zelenskiy said on Friday that he would visit the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but did not say when. However, the Ukrainian chief said that he did not intend to meet American or Russian officials during these visits.
Moscow controls a fifth from Ukraine and has been progressing slowly in the East for months, while the smallest army of kyiv is struggling with shortages of labor and tries to hold a piece of territory in western Russia .
Russia demanded the territory of Kyiv Cede and has become permanently neutral under any peace agreement. Ukraine demands that Russia withdraw from captured land and wants membership of NATO or equivalent security guarantees to prevent Moscow’s attack.
The United States and Europe have given Ukraine tens of billions of dollars in military aid since the start of the war. Trump said he was supporting Ukraine but was looking for security for kyiv’s American funding.
The United States and Ukraine are currently negotiating an agreement that could open up the vast natural wealth of Ukraine to American investment. Three sources said the United States has proposed to appropriate 50% of Ukraine’s critical minerals. Zelenskiy said on Saturday that the project agreement did not contain the security provisions Kyiv needed.
