Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Saudi officials on Monday ahead of planned talks with the country between US diplomats and Russian counterparts aimed at negotiating the end of the Ukrainian war. did.
Rubio was joined by US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Steve Witkoff, a special US mission to the Middle East. Rubio also met with Prince Faisal bin Fahan al Saud, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia is scheduled to have talks between the US and Russia in Saudi Arabia. Ukrainian officials are expected to be missing, especially at the negotiation table.
Rubio, Waltz and Witkov will meet with the Russian delegation, according to State Department spokesman Tammy Bruce.
National security adviser says Putin, Zelensky agrees, “Only President Trump can bring them to the table.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on February 17, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Putin’s foreign affairs advisor Yuri Ushakov left for the Saudi Arabian capital on Monday, according to Russian state television.
According to the Washington Post, Lavrov spoke to reporters in Moscow on Monday, saying he is looking forward to alienating between the US and Russia for a “absolutely extraordinary period.”
“We want to listen to our partners,” Lavrov reportedly.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the talks will mainly focus on “restoring the full scope of US-Russia relations, preparing for consultations on a settlement in Ukraine and preparing for a meeting of two presidents.” I stated.
Bruce said the meeting was intended to determine what Russians want peace and whether detailed negotiations can be launched.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Fahan Al Saud will welcome Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Riyadh on February 17, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
According to the Associated Press, she thinks it’s about everyone determining whether this is something that can move forward,” she told reporters traveling with Rubio in Riyadh.
Bruce said actual peace negotiations will only be held with Ukraine’s involvement, despite Ukraine not being at the table for talks on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s talks are expected to lay the foundation for a summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump spoke to Putin on the phone last week, saying, “Each team has agreed to start negotiations soon.” The call ended Moscow’s segregation over the Ukrainian invasion on February 24, 2022, and controlled US policy. Trump then called Zelenkey to let him know about their conversation.
Trump told reporters on Sunday that Zelensky would be “involved” but did not elaborate.
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Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency meeting between Paris’ major European powers on Monday to discuss the Russian-Ukraine conflict.
Speaking about Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, Witkov says he and Waltz will “conference at the president’s direction” and hope that “we will make really good progress with regard to the Russian Ukraine.” .
Witkov did not directly respond to questions about whether Ukraine must abandon “a significant portion” of its territory as part of the negotiated settlement. Defense Secretary Pete Hegses last week said Ukraine’s NATO membership was unrealistic and suggested that Kiev should abandon his hopes of acquiring all territory from Russia.
The Ukrainian president said Monday that his country has not been invited to future consultations and that he will not accept the outcome unless Kyiv participates. According to the Associated Press, Zelensky said that there are no Ukrainian officials and “no results” given that there are no Ukrainian officials. Zelenskyy said he will travel to Turkey on Monday and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, but said his trip has no connection to US-Russia discussions.
Rubio will meet Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on February 17, 2025 in Riyadh. Another couch features Waltz and US accusation Allison Dilworth. Witkov, not in the picture, was on another sofa in the room. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Appearing in “Fox News Sunday,” Waltz rejects the notion that European allies are not consulted by negotiating the end of the Russian-Ukraine war, and Rubio, Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and the Secretary of the Treasury. We looked at how Scott Bessent spent last week. In Europe, you meet allies. Bescent in particular traveled to Kiev, and Vance met with Ukrainian President Voldy Milzelensky on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
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Waltz said that one of the key tenants in negotiating peace agreements ensured a “permanent end of war” and how the conflict deviated from “human World-Second-Flower Meat Powder.” He said it was to explain. He said long-term military security guarantees must be European-led, criticising how a third of NATO countries have not contributed to agreeing to a decade ago.
Regarding billions of US aid sent to Ukraine during the Biden administration, Waltz said that Americans “deserve to be recovered and some kind of reward for the billions who invested in this war. It deserves to have.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
