Special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet Putin in Moscow after US-Ukraine summit

President Donald Trump's special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is planning a visit to Moscow for a meeting again with Russian President Vladimir Putin after U.S. and Ukrainian officials meet in Saudi Arabia this Tuesday.

Several reports confirmed the news that Witkoff, who already met with Putin in February, would be traveling later this week to meet with the Russian leader and address ending the war with Ukraine.

Bloomberg News was the first media outlet to report the trip, and Reuters confirmed the news later, citing White House insiders.

Witkoff, who in February was a participant in the negotiation with Russia where the Trump administration secured the release of American schoolteacher Marc Fogel, has taken a key role in diplomatic efforts to end the three-year-old war in Ukraine.

While Witkoff plans to travel to Russia, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio already arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday, pending the meeting with Ukrainian officials.

According to Rubio, Tuesday's meeting, in part, is to understand to what extent Kiev is willing to concede in order to achieve peace.

"We have to understand the Ukrainian position and just have a general idea of what concessions they'd be willing to make, because you're not going to get a ceasefire and an end to this war unless both sides make concessions. That's just obvious," Rubio told reporters Monday.

Rubio said the conversation would not be overly detailed. "We're not going to be sitting in a room drawing lines on a map, but just get a general sense of what concessions are in the realm of the possible for them and what they would need in return, and then find out what the Russian position is in that regard. And that'll give us a pretty good assessment of how far apart we truly are."

Rubio also explained to the press that the minerals deal is not on the agenda.

Witkoff, meanwhile, had planned to go to Saudi Arabia with Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, but in the end will not be part of Tuesday's meeting.

Instead, according to Axios, Witkoff left Miami on Monday bound for Abu Dhabi. On Tuesday, he is expected to meet with the president of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed Bin Zayed.

Then, in the evening, he will travel to Doha to join Qatari and Egyptian mediators in negotiations on the hostage deal and Gaza cease-fire. On Wednesday, Witkoff will meet with the Qatari prime minister.

Finally, on Thursday, Witkoff is due to travel to Moscow; but the plan could change depending on how the negotiations in Qatar go and Putin's own schedule.