Russia top diplomat Lavrov, US’ Rubio meet in Riyadh today to discuss end of Ukraine war

Russia said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would hold talks with top US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on Tuesday that will focus on ending the war in Ukraine and restoring broader Russia-US ties.

The talks will be among the first high-level, in-person discussions in years between Russian and US officials and are meant to precede a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Rubio arrived in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Monday on a previously planned trip. US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who were set to arrive later on Monday, will join him at the talks with Lavrov.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy advisor to Putin, would fly to 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.

The talks come after Trump last week spoke to 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 January 20, and Moscow, helping to secure a prisoner swap last week.

Rubio, who spoke by phone with Lavrov on Saturday, said on Sunday that the coming weeks and days would determine whether Putin is serious about making peace.

Zelenskyy, however, reaffirmed that Ukraine would not accept any peace accords reached without its involvement. “Ukraine will not take part,” Zelenskyy said.

Trump's Ukraine envoy, said on Monday that no one would impose a peace deal on Kyiv and that questions about whether Washington would provide guarantees for any future European peacekeepers would be addressed later.

UK, Germany may send peacekeeping troops

Britain said it was ready to send peacekeeping troops to back up any peace deal for Ukraine as European leaders gathered on Monday to agree a unified strategy, while Russian and US officials prepared to meet for their own competing talks. Germany said on Monday it “will not shy away” from contributing ground troops in an appropriate framework in Ukraine, against which Russia launched a full-scale invasion in 2022, but that no concrete agreements were expected in Paris. Poland said it can only provide logistical and physical help.