Rubio heads to Saudi Arabia for direct talks with Russians over Ukraine

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet Russian officials in Saudi Arabia (Evelyn Hockstein, Pool Photo via AP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading a delegation to Saudi Arabia for direct talks with Russian officials in the coming days to seek an end to Moscow’s near three-year-old invasion of Ukraine, a US official said on Sunday.

Also expected to take part in the talks in Riyadh is national security adviser Michael Waltz and special envoy Steve Witkoff, according to the official, who was not authorised to discuss the talks and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The official added that what the administration sees as an early-stage negotiations remain fluid and who ultimately ends up at the table for the anticipated talks could change.

The trip follows last week’s telephone call between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in which Mr Trump said they “agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately”.

Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine will not accept any negotiations that do not include Ukraine (Sven Hoppe/DPA via AP, Pool)

The call upended years of US policy, ending the isolation of Moscow over the February 24 2022 invasion. Mr Trump also spoke separately with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

It was not immediately clear if any Ukrainians would take part in the talks.

A Ukrainian delegation is in Saudi Arabia to pave the way for a possible visit by Mr Zelenskyy, a Ukrainian official said.

Mr Zelenskyy has said he would not accept any negotiations about Ukraine that do not include his country. European governments have also demanded a role.

Speaking to Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures programme, Mr Witkoff said he and Mr Waltz will be “having meetings at the direction of the president”, and hope to make “some really good progress with regard to Russia-Ukraine”.

Ukrainian economy minister Yulia Svyrydenko, a first deputy prime minister, did not clarify whether there is a link between Mr Zelenskyy’s possible trip and previously announced US-Russia talks.

In a Facebook post, she said the Ukrainian delegation’s focus is on strengthening economic ties as Kyiv “prepares to sign important economic agreements with countries in the region”.

She did not say anything about when Mr Zelenskyy might go to Saudi Arabia and who he might meet with.

Andriy Yermak, a top Zelenskyy adviser, said earlier on Sunday there was no possibility of Ukrainian and Russian representatives meeting directly in the immediate future.

In a Telegram post, Mr Yermak said the Ukrainians were not planning to do so “until we develop a plan” to end the war and bring about a “just peace”.

Mykhailo Podolyak, another Zelenskyy adviser, on Saturday denied that Ukraine will participate in any planned US-Russia meetings in Saudi Arabia.

“There is nothing on the negotiating table that would be worth discussing,” he told Ukrainian television.

Russian officials and state media took a triumphant tone after Mr Trump jettisoned three years of US policy and announced that he would likely meet soon with Mr Putin to negotiate a peace deal in the war in Ukraine.

Mr Trump’s announcement created a major diplomatic upheaval that could herald a watershed moment for Ukraine and Europe.