U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday ahead of anticipated talks with Russian officials, aimed at addressing Moscow’s nearly three-year war in Ukraine.
The discussions follow a phone call last week between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which Trump directed senior officials to initiate negotiations to end the conflict—one of his key campaign promises.
Riyadh, which is also engaged in talks with Washington about the future of Gaza, has played a pivotal role in facilitating early contacts between the Trump administration and Moscow. This included securing a prisoner exchange last week.
Rubio, who spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by phone on Saturday, is expected to meet Russian officials in Saudi Arabia alongside National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, according to a U.S. lawmaker and sources cited by Reuters. The Russian delegation’s participants remain unconfirmed.
The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that the talks are scheduled for Tuesday in Riyadh, based on unnamed sources. These negotiations will mark one of the first high-level in-person meetings in years between U.S. and Russian officials and are expected to precede a potential summit between the U.S. and Russian presidents.
Rubio commented on Sunday that the next few days and weeks would reveal whether Putin is serious about pursuing peace.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, is also in the region. He stated that he intends to visit Saudi Arabia and Turkey but clarified that no dates have been set. Zelenskiy confirmed that he does not plan to meet with Russian or U.S. officials and that Ukraine is not involved in the Saudi-hosted talks.
Gaza Talks
During his visit, Rubio is expected to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) to discuss President Trump’s controversial proposal for Gaza. The plan suggests resettling Palestinian residents of Gaza in other Arab nations, with the U.S. leading reconstruction efforts.
This proposal has drawn sharp criticism across the Arab world and raised fears among Palestinians of being displaced from the coastal enclave.
Gaza, devastated by the war that began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, remains in dire conditions. According to Israeli estimates, the attack resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and 250 hostages, while Gaza health authorities report that Israel’s subsequent military response killed over 48,000 Palestinians. A fragile ceasefire was reached last month.
Saudi Arabia, along with other Arab nations, has firmly rejected any plan that involves resettling Palestinians elsewhere. Riyadh is now leading efforts to craft an alternative proposal, potentially involving a Gulf-led reconstruction initiative and measures to sideline Hamas from governance.
