Senior U.S. officials said on Tuesday after talks with a Russian delegation in Saudi Arabia that all sides will need to make concessions in order to bring about an end to the three-year-old Ukraine war.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Saudi National Security Advisor Mosaad bin Mohammad Al-Aiban, U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, at Diriyah Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, February 18, 2025. Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein
Senior U.S. officials said on Tuesday after talks with a Russian delegation in Saudi Arabia that all sides will need to make concessions in order to bring about an end to the three-year-old Ukraine war.
"Today is the first step of a long and difficult journey but an important one," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after the talks in Riyadh.
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz, also part of the U.S. delegation alongside special envoy Steve Witkoff, told reporters that no date had been set for a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The U.S. delegation said negotiations would include discussions about territory and security guarantees for Ukraine. Russia controls about a fifth of Ukraine.
Rubio said Trump wants to move quickly to try to bring an end to the war, and that the goal is a fair, enduring and sustainable agreement.
Amid concerns in Ukraine and among European allies about the U.S.-led effort, Rubio said the goal is an agreement that is "acceptable to everyone involved in it, and that obviously includes Ukraine, but also our partners in Europe, and, of course, the Russian side as well."
By Humeyra Pamuk and Pesha Magid
Turkey's Foreign Ministry called on the international community to block Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed military takeover of Gaza City, accusing Israel of attempting to forcibly displace Palestinians and render the territory “uninhabitable.”
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, on Friday condemned Israel’s newly approved plan for a full-scale military takeover of Gaza City, warning it would lead to more “deaths and suffering” and must be halted “immediately.”
Israel's political-security cabinet approved a plan early on Friday to take control of Gaza City, as the country expands its military operations despite intensifying criticism at home and abroad over the devastating almost two-year-old war.
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