US and Russian delegations to Riyadh to prepare for Trump-Putin summit
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz arrived in Riyadh on Monday, while US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is expected to arrive later.
US officials will meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss issues of mutual interest.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is also expected to arrive this evening, as talks between the US and Russia aim to find a solution to the nearly three-year-old war in Ukraine.
This comes as part of the directives issued by President Donald Trump to senior officials to begin negotiations aimed at ending the conflict, which he repeatedly pledged during his election campaign.
US media reported that preparations are underway for a meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, expected to take place later this month, without a specific date yet.
It was also not ruled out that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would participate in these talks, according to what Trump announced, as he stressed that all parties are interested in ending the conflict as soon as possible.
For his part, President Trump indicated that his administration is working hard to end the war in Ukraine, explaining that the participation of the Ukrainian president will be essential in the talks scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia.
He added, “We’re making progress toward achieving peace between Russia and Ukraine, and we are working hard to achieve that… This war should never have started in the first place”.
In the same context, the Kremlin confirmed that a phone call between Putin and Trump made it clear that the two sides would adopt dialogue to resolve the conflict.
The Kremlin statement said that Moscow and Washington would discuss peace instead of war, stressing the importance of the meeting between the two presidents under the current circumstances.
Regarding the upcoming summit between Putin and Trump on peace negotiations in Ukraine, opinion polls conducted by the British, The Telegraph newspaper showed that 80% of Ukrainians see a diplomatic solution as the most likely option to end the conflict.
