Russian president sends top diplomat and Kremlin adviser to meet Trump officials in Saudi Arabia
MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent his foreign minister and a senior Kremlin adviser to meet US officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss restoring relations and possible talks to end the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Monday.
US President Donald Trump said after a call with Putin on Wednesday that they would begin talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine immediately, and that they had also discussed the Middle East, energy, the US dollar and Artificial Intelligence.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Sergei Lavrov, Putin’s foreign minister since 2004, and Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin foreign policy advisor, were flying to Riyadh at the request of Putin.
“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 organization of a meeting between the two presidents.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the U.S. delegation. Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News Sunday that he and national security adviser Mike Waltz also will take part in the talks.
Speaking on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” program, Witkoff said he and Waltz will be “having meetings at the direction of the president,” and hope to make “some really good progress with regard to Russia-Ukraine.”
A Ukrainian delegation is in Saudi Arabia to pave the way for a possible visit by Zelenskyy, a Ukrainian official said.
Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, however, didn’t clarify whether there is a link between Zelenskyy’s planned trip to the kingdom and the U.S.-Russia talks.
Andriy Yermak, a top Zelenskyy adviser, said earlier Sunday there was no possibility of Ukrainian and Russian representatives meeting directly in the immediate future.
