U.S. and Russian top diplomats will meet Tuesday in Riyadh for a summit to resolve the Ukraine war, after sidelining Europe and Kyiv.
Russia announced Monday that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet with top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss ending the war and restoring broader Russia-U.S. relations.
Earlier, Rubio arrived in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Monday on a previously planned trip. U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who are set to arrive later Monday, will be joining him at the talks with the Russians.
The talks will be among the first high-level, in-person discussions in years between Russian and U.S. officials and are meant to precede a meeting between the U.S. and Russian presidents.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy advisor to President Vladimir Putin, would fly to the Saudi capital Riyadh on Monday.
"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 organization 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 U.S. President Donald Trump would meet face-to-face in Saudi Arabia later this month.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce confirmed that Rubio, Waltz, and Witkoff will meet with the Russian delegation in Riyadh on Tuesday.
The talks come after President Donald Trump last week spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone and ordered top officials to begin negotiations on the war, which he repeatedly vowed to end during his presidential campaign.
Riyadh, which is also involved in talks with Washington over the future of the Gaza Strip, has played a role in early contacts between the Trump administration, which took office on Jan. 20, and Moscow, helping to secure a prisoner swap last week.
U.S. top diplomat Rubio, who spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday, said Sunday that the coming weeks and days would determine whether Putin is serious about making peace.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also in the region. Zelenskyy, who arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, said he also intended to visit Saudi Arabia and Türkiye.
Zelenskyy said Monday his country won't take part in U.S.-Russia talks this week on ending the war and won't accept the outcome of the talks if Ukraine doesn't take part.
Speaking to journalists on a conference call from the United Arab Emirates, Zelenskyy said his government had not been invited to Tuesday's planned talks in Saudi Arabia.
He said they would "yield no results," given the absence of any Ukrainian officials.
He said he had no plans to meet Russian or U.S. officials and Ukraine is not believed to be invited to the Saudi-hosted talks.
Andriy Yermak, a top Zelenskyy adviser, said earlier Sunday there was no possibility of Ukrainian and Russian representatives meeting directly in the immediate future.
In a Telegram post, Yermak said the Ukrainians weren't planning to do so "until we develop a plan" to end the war and bring about a "just peace."
