Riyadh [Saudi Arabia], February 18: The United States and Russia have confirmed that their top delegates will meet in Saudi Arabia this week to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, in a move that has sparked concern among European leaders left out of the US-led effort.
Senior US and Russian officials will hold talks in Riyadh on Tuesday in an effort to lay the groundwork for peace talks, the US Department of State and the Kremlin confirmed on Monday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy adviser to President Vladimir Putin, were due to travel to the Saudi capital, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
They will meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, the State Department said.
The confirmation comes just days after US President Donald Trump said he and Putin had agreed in a phone call to begin negotiations to end the war, which will hit the three-year mark later this month.
Trump's push for bilateral talks with Moscow has raised alarm about what place Ukraine and its European allies would have at the negotiating table.
It also has spurred concerns that the US president could hand concessions to Russia, and that Europe's security architecture and its defence partnership with the US could be weakened.
Peskov said this week's meeting in Saudi Arabia "will be dedicated to possible negotiations on a Ukrainian resolution and organising a meeting between the two presidents".
Following reports that Trump could meet Putin in Saudi Arabia, the Republican leader said at the weekend that such a meeting could happen "very soon".
The Reuters news agency, quoting Peskov, reported that the meeting on Tuesday will focus on "restoring the whole complex of Russian-American relations".
Russia's sovereign wealth fund chief Kirill Dmitriev will also reportedly join the meeting.
Meanwhile, Rubio - the US secretary of state - said Tuesday's meeting would seek to open a broader conversation that "would include Ukraine and would involve the end of the war".
"A process towards peace is not a one-meeting thing," he told the US television network CBS on Sunday.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine would not take part in the Saudi Arabia-based talks or recognise any potential agreement reached in Kiev's absence.
However, Zelensky said he would visit Saudi Arabia separately on Wednesday and that he planned to ask Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for updates on the talks.
Keith Kellogg, Trump's Russia-Ukraine envoy, has denied that the US would impose terms on Ukraine as part of peace negotiations with Russia.
His statement comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his European allies have voiced concern about being sidelined. US and Russian officials are to meet on Tuesday.
On Monday, Rubio began meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh.
The top US diplomat was expected to discuss US President Donald Trump's plan for the United States to "take over" Gaza. Saudi Arabia has been a leading critic of the plan.
Turkish officials said Zelensky would visit Turkiye on Tuesday upon the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In a statement on X, Turkish government spokesman Fahrettin Altun said Zelensky and Erdogan would discuss ways to improve cooperation and bilateral ties, the latest developments in Ukraine as well as regional and global issues.
Source: Qatar Tribune