High-level discussions set for US-Russia relations and Ukraine peace
Top Russian officials will hold talks with U.S. counterparts on restoring ties, negotiating a peaceful settlement to the war in Ukraine and preparing a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, the Kremlin said Monday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin鈥檚 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 U.S. delegation. Trump鈥檚 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 鈥渞estoring 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."
Speaking to journalists on a conference call from the United Arab Emirates on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country won鈥檛 take part in the talks this week, adding that they would 鈥測ield no results,鈥� given the absence of any Ukrainian officials. European governments have also demanded a role.
The talks follow last week鈥檚 telephone call between Trump and Putin in which Trump said they 鈥渁greed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately.鈥� The call upended years of U.S. policy, ending the isolation of Moscow over its Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine. After the call with Putin, Trump phoned to inform him about their conversation.
Trump on Sunday told reporters that Zelenskyy 鈥渨ill be involved,鈥� but did not elaborate.
Zelenskyy said he would travel to Turkey on Monday and to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, but that his trip to the Arab nation was unrelated to planned U.S.-Russia talks there on Tuesday.
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鈥檛 planning to do so 鈥渦ntil we develop a plan鈥� to end the war and bring about a 鈥渏ust peace.鈥�
Speaking on Fox News Channel鈥檚 鈥淪unday Morning Futures鈥� program, Witkoff said he and Waltz will be 鈥渉aving meetings at the direction of the president,鈥� and hope to make 鈥渟ome really good progress with regard to Russia-Ukraine.鈥�
In his TV interview, Witkoff didn鈥檛 directly respond to a question about whether Ukraine would have to give up a 鈥渟ignificant portion鈥� of its territory as part of any negotiated settlement.
鈥淭hose are details, and I鈥檓 not dismissive of the details, they鈥檙e important. But I think the beginning here is trust-building. It鈥檚 getting everybody to understand that this war does not belong continuing, that it should end. That鈥檚 what the president has directed us to do,鈥� he said.