Secretive U.S.-Russia peace talks in Saudi Arabia exclude Zelensky
On Monday, the American portal Axios, citing sources, reported that high-level talks between representatives of the U.S. and Russian governments regarding ending the war in Ukraine will take place in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was not invited to the Saudi meeting.
High-level talks between representatives of the U.S. and Russian governments about ending the war in Ukraine are scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, according to the American portal Axios on Monday, citing sources with direct knowledge of the issue. The U.S. side will be represented, among others, by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
According to Axios, other representatives of the U.S. government will include White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and U.S. Presidential Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff. Prior to arriving in Saudi Arabia, Rubio visited Israel.
The Russian side will be represented by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Presidential Advisor Yuri Ushakov, stated Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was not invited to the Saudi meeting, Axios highlighted.
It is strange to hold a meeting in such format before we had consultations with our strategic partners. As I remember Russia is not such a strategic partner, Zelensky said on Saturday in an interview with a portal journalist.
The only invitation Ukraine received was "through the reports in the media," a senior Ukrainian official quoted by Axios remarked.
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday that the peace talks process between Russia and Ukraine "was moving along," and Zelensky "will be involved" in the talks. On the same day, Witkoff stated that "Ukraine is part of the talks" and added, "I don't think it is about excluding anybody. It's about including everybody." The White House declined to comment on the matter, Axios reported.
