A meeting of senior US and Russian officials to discuss a possible agreement to end the war in Ukraine and prepare for the summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will take place on February 18 in Saudi Arabia.
This was reported to Axios by two sources.
The American delegation will include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff.
It is not yet known who will be part of the Russian delegation, but one source said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is likely to be present.
On Sunday, Witkoff told Fox News that he and Waltz would travel to Saudi Arabia that evening. Rubio will arrive in Saudi Arabia on Monday, following a visit to Israel.
Ukrainian President Zelensky reported on February 15 that Ukraine had not received an invitation to the meeting.
"Itʼs strange to hold a meeting in this format before weʼve consulted with our strategic partners. As far as I remember, Russia is not such a strategic partner," he said.
A senior Ukrainian official said that the only invitation Ukraine received was “through media reports”.
Trumpʼs plans for Ukraine
During the election campaign, Trump claimed that he could end the war in Ukraine “in one day”. However, after being elected president, his narratives changed. The American newspaper The Wall Street Journal wrote that he instructed special envoy Keith Kellogg to end the war in 100 days.
Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly stressed that the state will defend its integrity and will not cede its territories to Russia. In September 2024, Zelensky met with Trump and presented him with a victory plan.
Trump said on February 9 that he has a concrete plan to end the war and wants to make a $500 billion deal with Volodymyr Zelensky for access to rare earth minerals and gas in Ukraine in exchange for security guarantees in a potential peace deal.
Zelensky said that Kyiv was open to partnership on this issue, but he did not sign the agreement on this because it did not provide security guarantees for Ukraine.
On February 15, Kellogg said he wanted to bring all sides to talks to end the war within 180 days, with the United States acting as a mediator. At the same time, he stressed that this “will not be Minsk 2”. He noted that Europe’s position on a peaceful settlement would be taken into account, but there would be no physical European representatives at the negotiating table.
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