Russia said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will hold talks with top US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on Tuesday that will focus on ending the fighting in Ukraine and restoring “the whole complex” of Russia-US ties.
Publish dateTuesday 18 February 2025 - 11:01
Story Code : 307900
Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Monitoring: Rubio arrived in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Monday on a pre-planned trip. He will be joined in the talks with the Russians by U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who are scheduled to arrive later Monday.
The talks will be among the first high-level, face-to-face talks between Russian and U.S. officials in years and are scheduled to take place before a meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, will travel to the Saudi capital Riyadh on Tuesday.
“They are expected to meet with their American counterparts on Tuesday, which will primarily focus on the overall restoration of Russian-U.S. relations,” Peskov said.
He added that it will also be devoted to preparing for possible talks on the Ukraine settlement and organizing a meeting between the two presidents.
Peskov declined to comment when asked whether Putin and US President Donald Trump would meet face-to-face in Saudi Arabia later this month.
State Department spokesman Tommy Bruce confirmed that Rubio, Waltz and Witkoff would meet with the Russian delegation in Riyadh on Tuesday.
The talks come after US President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week and ordered senior officials to begin talks on the conflict, which he repeatedly promised to end during his presidential campaign.
Riyadh, which is also involved in talks with Washington over the future of the Gaza Strip, played a role in early contacts between the Trump administration, which took office on January 20, and Moscow and facilitated a prisoner swap last week.
Rubio, a senior US diplomat who spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Saturday, said on Sunday that the coming weeks and days would show whether Putin was serious about making peace.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also in the region. Zelensky, who arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, said he also plans to visit Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but no dates have been set.
He said he has no plans to meet with Russian or American officials and does not expect Ukraine to be invited to host talks in Saudi Arabia.
On the agenda for Rubio’s meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is likely to be Trump’s proposal to resettle Palestinian residents of Gaza in other Arab countries and for the United States to guide the rebuilding of their homes.
The proposal has angered the Arab world and heightened concerns among Gazans about being forced out of the coastal strip.
Saudi Arabia, along with other Arab states, has rejected any plan that would involve resettling Palestinians, and Riyadh is leading Arab efforts to craft a counterproposal, which could include a Gulf-led reconstruction fund and a deal to marginalize Hamas.
Salman has also stressed that Saudi Arabia will not normalize relations with Israel - a long-standing goal of Washington - without an agreement on the establishment of a Palestinian state./Dawn News
The talks will be among the first high-level, face-to-face talks between Russian and U.S. officials in years and are scheduled to take place before a meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, will travel to the Saudi capital Riyadh on Tuesday.
“They are expected to meet with their American counterparts on Tuesday, which will primarily focus on the overall restoration of Russian-U.S. relations,” Peskov said.
He added that it will also be devoted to preparing for possible talks on the Ukraine settlement and organizing a meeting between the two presidents.
Peskov declined to comment when asked whether Putin and US President Donald Trump would meet face-to-face in Saudi Arabia later this month.
State Department spokesman Tommy Bruce confirmed that Rubio, Waltz and Witkoff would meet with the Russian delegation in Riyadh on Tuesday.
The talks come after US President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week and ordered senior officials to begin talks on the conflict, which he repeatedly promised to end during his presidential campaign.
Riyadh, which is also involved in talks with Washington over the future of the Gaza Strip, played a role in early contacts between the Trump administration, which took office on January 20, and Moscow and facilitated a prisoner swap last week.
Rubio, a senior US diplomat who spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Saturday, said on Sunday that the coming weeks and days would show whether Putin was serious about making peace.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also in the region. Zelensky, who arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, said he also plans to visit Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but no dates have been set.
He said he has no plans to meet with Russian or American officials and does not expect Ukraine to be invited to host talks in Saudi Arabia.
On the agenda for Rubio’s meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is likely to be Trump’s proposal to resettle Palestinian residents of Gaza in other Arab countries and for the United States to guide the rebuilding of their homes.
The proposal has angered the Arab world and heightened concerns among Gazans about being forced out of the coastal strip.
Saudi Arabia, along with other Arab states, has rejected any plan that would involve resettling Palestinians, and Riyadh is leading Arab efforts to craft a counterproposal, which could include a Gulf-led reconstruction fund and a deal to marginalize Hamas.
Salman has also stressed that Saudi Arabia will not normalize relations with Israel - a long-standing goal of Washington - without an agreement on the establishment of a Palestinian state./Dawn News
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