U.S. and Russia to meet Tuesday in Saudi Arabia for Ukraine war talks

U.S. diplomacy, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and senior Russian government officials will meet this Tuesday in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) to negotiate the end of the conflict in Ukraine and try to stabilize bilateral relations, as confirmed by the White House and the Kremlin.

In Riyadh, Rubio - who is already in the Saudi capital - will be accompanied by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Steve Witkoff, White House Middle East envoy. On the Russian side, the meeting is scheduled to be attended by its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and Yuri Ushakov, diplomatic advisor to the Kremlin.

"Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov will fly to Riyadh today and will hold a meeting with their US counterparts on Tuesday, primarily devoted to restoring the overall Russian-American relations," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed, adding that the dialogue "will also be devoted to preparing possible negotiations on a Ukrainian resolution and the organization of a meeting between the two presidents."

Lavrov, head of Russian diplomacy, assured that the objective of the meeting is to "leave behind" the tensions between Russia and the United States, something Putin and Trump agreed on in their conversation last week.

Trump-Putin meeting could happen "very soon"

It is unknown whether Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will attend, despite the president saying that the first time he will meet face-to-face with his Russian counterpart - without the presence of Volodymir Zelenski, who will travel to Riyadh on Wednesday, a spokesman said, according to AFP.- "probably" will be in Saudi Arabia.

On February 16, Trump assured that the expected meeting with Putin would take place earlier than expected. "There's no date set, but it could be very soon," he told reporters, adding that he believes his Russian counterpart "wants to stop fighting," just like Zelenski.

The trip to Riyadh is part of Rubio's Middle East tour. The Secretary of State was in Jerusalem (Israel) last Sunday, where he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials.