Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent his foreign minister and a senior Kremlin adviser to meet U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss restoring relations and possible talks to end the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Monday.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov © Mena Today
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent his foreign minister and a senior Kremlin adviser to meet U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss restoring relations and possible talks to end the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Monday.
U.S. President Donald Trump said after a call with Putin on Wednesday that they would begin talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine immediately, and that they had also discussed the Middle East, energy, the U.S. dollar and Artificial Intelligence.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due in Saudi Arabia to meet Russian officials alongside Mike Waltz, Trump's national security adviser, and Steve Witkoff, White House Middle East envoy.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Sergei Lavrov, Putin's foreign minister since 2004, and Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin foreign policy advisor, were flying to Riyadh at the request of Putin.
"They are expected to hold a meeting with their American counterparts on Tuesday, which will focus primarily on restoring the entire complex of Russian-American relations," Peskov said.
"It will also be devoted to the preparation of possible negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement and the organisation of a meeting between the two presidents."
Peskov declined to comment on a Reuters report that Kirill Dmitriev, Russia's sovereign wealth fund chief, would also meet the U.S. delegation.
He also declined to comment when asked if Putin and Trump would meet face-to-face in Saudi Arabia later this month.
Reporting by Dmitry Antonov and Guy Faulconbridge
Saudi Arabia has launched an air accident probe following last week's cockpit stabbing on a flydubai jet, as experts examine any fallout for aviation safety alongside a separate UAE-led criminal investigation, three people close to the matter said.
Houthis attacked the international airport in the southern Yemeni town of Aden with ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones early on Wednesday, Yemen's Transport Ministry said, as fighting intensified across several fronts between the Iran-aligned group and Saudi-backed government forces.
Israelis will on Wednesday mark three years since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering a military assault that destroyed much of Gaza, where conditions remain dire despite a year-old ceasefire that is meant to halt the war for good.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.