- The Trump team includes security advisor Mike Waltz in addition to Rubio.
- Trump officials did not disclose the time and place of peace talks.
- Rubio called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Saturday.
Washington: A high -level delegation from US President Donald Trump’s administration should start from crucial discussions in Saudi Arabia with Russian and Ukrainian officials, aimed at negotiating the current conflict in Ukraine, US officials announced on Saturday.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor to the White House Mike Waltz and Trump Middle East negotiator Steve Witkoff, will go to Saudi Arabia for discussions, the officials confirmed.
This decision comes only a few days after Trump announced that he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time since his return to duties, and that they had agreed to initiate talks on a ceasefire Ukraine.
The civil servants did not provide details on the moment when the meetings are taking place or when the delegation was traveling.
However, Rubio was to visit Saudi Arabia as part of its first visit to the Middle East, which began on Saturday when it arrived in Israel, an AFP journalist reported.
Earlier on Saturday, Rubio held a telephone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, during which he “reaffirmed President Trump’s commitment to find the end of the conflict in Ukraine,” said the State Department.
Former real estate developer Witkoff played an important role in an exchange of prisoners earlier this week, which paved the way for the call between Trump and Putin.
Witkoff even went to Moscow to bring back the United States inmate Marc Fogel.
In an article on social networks announcing the call with Putin earlier this week, Trump said he had charged Rubio, Waltz, Witkoff and CIA chief John Ratcliffe to immediately start working on an agreement with Russia To end the Ukrainian war.
kyiv and his European allies, however, were taken over by Trump’s sudden decision to start negotiations with Russia.
The two fear being excluded from the discussions on the future of Ukraine following the greatest invasion of land in Europe since the Second World War.
