Top Russian officials will hold talks with US counterparts on restoring ties, negotiating a peaceful settlement to the war in Ukraine and preparing a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, the Kremlin said Monday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov will fly to the Saudi capital later in the day to take part in the talks set for Tuesday.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the US 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.
Peskov said the talks will be primarily focused on “restoring the entire complex of U.S.-Russian relations, as well as preparing possible talks on the Ukrainian settlement and organizing a meeting of the two presidents.”
The talks follow last week’s telephone call between Trump and Putin in which Trump said they “agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately.” The call upended years of U.S. policy, ending the isolation of Moscow over its February 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine. After the call with Putin, Trump phoned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to inform him about their conversation.
Trump on Sunday told reporters that Zelenskyy “will be involved,” but did not elaborate, and it wasn’t immediately clear if any Ukrainians would take part in the talks in Saudi Arabia.
A Ukrainian delegation is in Saudi Arabia to pave the way for a possible visit by Zelenskyy, a Ukrainian official said.
Zelenskyy has said he wouldn’t accept any negotiations about Ukraine that don’t include his country. European governments have also demanded a role.
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.”
In his TV interview, Witkoff didn’t directly respond to a question about whether Ukraine would have to give up a “significant portion” of its territory as part of any negotiated settlement.
“Those are details, and I’m not dismissive of the details, they’re important. But I think the beginning here is trust-building. It’s getting everybody to understand that this war does not belong continuing, that it should end. That’s what the president has directed us to do,” he said.
Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, also a first deputy prime minister, didn’t clarify whether there is a link between Zelenskyy’s planned trip to Saudi Arabia and previously announced U.S.-Russia talks. In a Facebook post, she said the Ukrainian delegation’s focus is on strengthening economic ties as Kyiv “prepares to sign important economic agreements with countries in the region.”
Andriy Yermak, a top Zelenskyy adviser, said earlier Sunday there was no possibility of Ukrainian and Russian representatives meeting directly in the immediate future. In a Telegram post, Yermak said the Ukrainians weren’t planning to do so “until we develop a plan” to end the war and bring about a “just peace.”
Mykhailo Podolyak, another Zelenskyy adviser, on Saturday denied that Ukraine will participate in any planned U.S.-Russia meetings in Saudi Arabia. “There is nothing on the negotiating table that would be worth discussing,” he told Ukrainian television.
