By Jonathan Landay and Steve Holland
MUNICH/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. and Russian officials will meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to start talks aimed at ending Moscow’s nearly three-year war in Ukraine, a U.S. lawmaker and a source familiar with the planning said on Saturday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who met with U.S. Vice President JD Vance in Germany on Friday, said Ukraine was not invited to the talks in Saudi Arabia and Kyiv would not engage with Russia before consulting with strategic partners.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Saudi Arabia, U.S. Representative Michael McCaul told Reuters. It was not immediately clear who they would meet from Russia.
On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, McCaul said the aim of the talks was to arrange a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskiy “to finally bring peace and end this conflict.”
A source with knowledge of the plans confirmed the planned talks in Saudi Arabia between U.S. and Russian officials. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump, who took office on January 20, has repeatedly vowed to swiftly end the Ukraine war. He made separate phone calls to Putin and Zelenskiy on Wednesday, leaving Washington’s European allies alarmed that they will be cut out of any peace process.
Those fears were largely confirmed on Saturday when Trump’s Ukraine envoy said Europe won’t have a seat at the table, after Washington sent a questionnaire to European capitals to ask what they could contribute to security guarantees for Kyiv.
MINERALS DEAL
Earlier on Saturday Rubio spoke with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. They agreed on regular contacts to prepare for a meeting between Putin and Trump, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said.
Zelenskiy said on Friday he would visit the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but did not say when. However, the Ukrainian leader said he had no plans to meet with U.S. or Russian officials during those visits.
Moscow controls a fifth of Ukraine and has been slowly advancing in the east for months, while Kyiv’s smaller army grapples with manpower shortages and tries to hold a chunk of territory in western Russia.
Russia has demanded Kyiv cede territory and become permanently neutral under any peace deal. Ukraine demands Russia withdraw from captured land and wants NATO membership or equivalent security guarantees to prevent attack by Moscow.
The United States and Europe have given Ukraine tens of billions of dollars in military aid since the war started. Trump has said he backs Ukraine but is seeking security for U.S. funding for Kyiv.
The U.S. and Ukraine are currently negotiating a deal that could open up Ukraine’s vast natural wealth to U.S. investment. Three sources said the U.S. proposed taking ownership of 50% of Ukraine’s critical minerals. Zelenskiy said on Saturday that the draft deal did not contain the security provisions Kyiv needed.
(Reporting by Jonathan Landay in Munich, Steve Holland in Washington, Tom Balmforth in Kyiv, Andrea Shalal in Palm Beach, and Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Alistair Bell, Michelle Nichols and Daniel Wallis)
