Rubio arrives in Saudi Arabia before Russia talks to end Ukraine war

• • • Trump officials meeting with Russians reportedly set for Tuesday
    • Rubio says coming weeks and days will determine if Putin is serious about peace
    • Trump’s Gaza plan also on agenda in Riyadh
      Russia said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will hold talks with top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on Tuesday that will focus on ending the war in Ukraine and restoring “the whole complex” of Russia-U.S. ties.
      Rubio arrived in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Monday on a previously planned trip. U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who are set to arrive later on Monday, will be joining him at the talks with the Russians

     

    The talks will be among the first high-level, in-person discussions in years between Russian and U.S. officials and are meant to precede a meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents.
    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy advisor to President Vladimir Putin, would fly to the Saudi capital Riyadh on Monday.
    “They are expected to hold a meeting with their American counterparts on Tuesday, which will focus primarily on restoring the entire complex of Russian-American relations,” Peskov said.
    “It will also be devoted to the preparation of possible negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement and the organisation of a meeting between the two presidents.”

    Peskov declined to comment on a Reuters report that Kirill Dmitriev, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund chief, would also meet the U.S. delegation.

    Peskov declined to comment when asked if Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump would meet face-to-face in Saudi Arabia later this month.

    U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce confirmed that Rubio, Waltz, and Witkoff will meet with the Russian delegation in Riyadh on Tuesday.

    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.
    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.

    U.S. top diplomat Rubio, who spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday, said on Sunday that the coming weeks and days would determine whether Putin is serious about making peace.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is also in the region. Zelenskiy, who arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, said he also intended to visit Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but no dates were set. 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.

    GAZA TALKS

    On the agenda for Rubio’s meeting with MbS is likely to be Trump’s proposal for the Palestinian residents of Gaza to be resettled in other Arab nations and for the U.S. to lead reconstruction of their home.
    That proposal has infuriated the Arab World and heightened fears among Palestinians in Gaza of being driven out of the coastal strip.
    Gaza has been devastated by the war that broke out when Iran-backed militants Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage, according to Israeli tallies. The offensive Israel launched in response killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, before an agreement reached last month brought a fragile ceasefire.
    Saudi Arabia, alongside other Arab nations, has rejected any plan that involves resettling Palestinians, and Riyadh is spearheading Arab efforts to develop a counterproposal, which could involve a Gulf-led reconstruction fund and a deal to sideline Hamas.
    MbS has also insisted that Saudi Arabia would not normalize ties with Israel – a long-standing goal of Washington – without an agreement on a pathway to a Palestinian state.
    Rubio visited Israel on Sunday and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pledging support for Israel in its regional rivalry with Iran.

  Reuters