Russian President Vladimir Putin has been sent to Saudi Arabia for a meeting with the US on Ukraine’s potential peace deal, the Kremlin announced Monday.
Officials, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Putin’s foreign affairs advisor Yuri Ushakov will meet with his US counterparts on Tuesday. The group will discuss the restoration of diplomatic relations between Washington and Moscow, the Ukrainian peace agreement and a potential meeting between President Donald Trump and Putin.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead a US delegation with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and national security adviser Mike Waltz, the State Department confirmed Monday.
The meeting comes days after Trump revealed he had spoken with Putin over the phone last week. Trump said he and Putin “agreed that their teams would soon begin negotiations.”
Trump says he agrees to start negotiations “quickly” to end the war in Ukraine
President Donald Trump (center), President of Ukrainian Volodmia Zelensky (left), and President of Russia Vladimir Putin (right). (Alessandro Bremec/Nurphoto via Getty Images | Contributor/Getty Images | Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Ukrainian President Voldimir Zelenkie tried skeptical of Trump to not trust Putin last week.
“I said that [Putin] “Zelensky spoke about the call to Trump,” he said, “I think my feelings are that he is ready for these negotiations.” And I said to him, “No, he’s a liar. He doesn’t want peace.”
Putin saw him as a “great competitor,” but he was still seen as an “enemy” as Ukrainian negotiations loomed, Levitt said.
Despite this, Zelenskyy said he believes Putin is “a little scary” for Trump.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will lead a meeting of the Russian delegation with Saudi Arabia’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Trump’s representatives refused to provide details on the negotiations, including whether the US would support a deal that forced Ukraine to abandon a significant amount of pre-war territory.
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“These are details, I’m not denying the details, they are important. But I think the beginning here is the building of trust. This war is not continuing, and it should end. It makes us understand that. What the president has instructed us,” Witkov told Fox News on Sunday.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Kia Starmer confirmed that he was willing to place British troops on the ground in Ukraine to ensure security as part of the peace agreement.
“I didn’t lightly say that,” he wrote in the Daily Telegraph. “I feel very deeply responsible for the potential harm to British servicemen and women.”
“However, the role that helps ensure the safety of Ukraine is helping to ensure the safety of our continent and the security of this country,” he added.
The war continues to rage in recent Ukraine, despite calls between Trump and Putin debating the peace deal. (via Anatolii Stepanov/AFP, Anatolii Stepanov/AFP Getty Images)
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In an interview, Zelenskyy added that only the US and Russia would not accept negotiations.
“I will never accept decisions between the US and Russia regarding Ukraine. Never… the war in Ukraine is against us. It is our human loss. Ukraine support, bipartisan “We are grateful for unity, bipartisan support, that we don’t have a world leader who can do business with Putin without us,” he said.
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter for Fox News Digital, covering national politics and major broken news events. Submit your tip to anders.hagstrom@fox.com or via Twitter: @hagstrom_anders.
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