The meeting between US and Russian delegations in Saudi Arabia is set for tomorrow, with media revealing further details.
A meeting between delegations from the United States and Russia is scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, February 18. The parties will discuss the possibility of negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
This was reported by RBK-Ukraine citing Axios and NBC News.
Who will represent the U.S. at the meeting
According to American media, the following representatives will attend tomorrow's meeting with the Russians:
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio,
- National Security Advisor Michael Waltz,
- and Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff.
Who might represent Russia
It is still unclear who will lead the Russian delegation at the meeting. Meanwhile, Western media report that it could be:
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov,
- possibly accompanied by assistant to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, Yuri Ushakov,
- and also the Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergey Naryshkin.
Possible formats: U.S.-Russia, U.S.-Ukraine, Ukraine-Russia-U.S.
According to NBC, the American side did not invite Ukraine to this meeting with the Russians in Saudi Arabia.
This is explained by Washington's desire to hold a bilateral meeting with Russia first, after which a bilateral meeting with the Ukrainian delegation is allegedly planned, followed by joint negotiations, as stated in the NBC publication.
U.S. and Russia negotiations in Saudi Arabia
Recall that on February 13, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that representatives from the U.S., Ukraine, and Russia would allegedly meet in Saudi Arabia next week.
On February 14, it became known that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky would visit Saudi Arabia and Turkey. However, Kyiv ruled out a meeting with the Russian side.
On February 15, Politico reported that Trump's team would initiate Russian-Ukrainian peace talks in Saudi Arabia. Bloomberg also reported that a meeting between delegations from Russia and the U.S. regarding this matter would take place in Saudi Arabia next week.
After a meeting with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference last Friday, President Zelensky stated that the Ukrainian side had not been invited to the negotiations in Saudi Arabia. The head of state added that Kyiv would not engage with Moscow without consultations with strategic partners.
Additionally, it was previously reported that Ukraine began a working visit of its government delegation to Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, it is worth noting that Zelensky also mentioned plans for a visit to Saudi Arabia—the president explained that he already has "planned visits and important dialogues" there.