Top US diplomat Rubio meets Saudi crown prince in Riyadh

CAIRO: Saudi Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman discussed regional and global developments and efforts to achieve security and stability with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Riyadh on Monday, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.

Rubio’s previously planned visit comes ahead of an anticipated meeting between US officials with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that is set to focus on ending the war in Ukraine and restoring broader Russia-US ties.

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The Saudi statement, however, did not mention any particular discussion on Ukraine.

Earlier in the day, Russia said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would hold talks with top US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on Tuesday that will focus on ending the war in Ukraine and restoring broader Russia-US ties.

Rubio arrived in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Monday on a previously planned trip. US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who were set to arrive later on Monday, will join him at the talks with Lavrov.

The talks will be among the first high-level, in-person discussions in years between Russian and US officials and are meant to precede a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy advisor to Putin, would fly to Riyadh on Monday.

“They are expected to hold a meeting with their American counterparts on Tuesday, which will focus primarily on restoring the entire complex of Russian-American relations,” Peskov said.

“It will also be devoted to the preparation of possible negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement and the organisation of a meeting between the two presidents.”

Peskov declined to comment when asked if Putin and Trump would meet face-to-face in Saudi Arabia later this month.

US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce confirmed that Rubio, Waltz and Witkoff would meet with the Russian delegation in Riyadh on Tuesday.

The talks come after Trump last week spoke to Putin by phone and ordered top officials to begin negotiations on the war, which he repeatedly vowed to end during his presidential campaign.

Riyadh, which is also involved in talks with Washington over the future of the Gaza Strip, has played a role in early contacts between the Trump administration, which took office on Jan. 20, and Moscow, helping to secure a prisoner swap last week.

Rubio, who spoke by phone with Lavrov on Saturday, said on Sunday that the coming weeks and days would determine whether Putin is serious about making peace.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is also in the region. Zelenskiy, who arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, said he also intended to visit Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but no dates were set.

Zelenskiy on Monday dismissed planned talks between the U.S. and Russia on ending the war in Ukraine, reiterating that Kyiv should be involved in any discussions about its own future.

“Ukraine regards any negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine as ones that have no result, and we cannot recognise … any agreements about us without us,” he told reporters in a virtual briefing from the UAE.

GAZA TALKS

On the agenda for a meeting between Rubio and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is likely to be Trump’s proposal for the Palestinian residents of Gaza to be resettled in other Arab nations and for the US to lead reconstruction of their home.

That proposal has infuriated the Arab World and heightened fears among Palestinians in Gaza of being driven out of the coastal strip.

Gaza has been devastated by the war that broke out when Iran-backed militants Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage, according to Israeli tallies. The offensive Israel launched in response killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, before an agreement reached last month brought a fragile ceasefire.

Saudi Arabia has rejected any plan that involves resettling Palestinians, and Riyadh is spearheading Arab efforts to develop a counterproposal, which could involve a Gulf-led reconstruction fund and a deal to sideline Hamas.

The Saudi crown prince, also known as MbS, has also insisted that Saudi Arabia would not normalise ties with Israel – a long-standing goal of Washington – without an agreement on a pathway to a Palestinian state.

Rubio visited Israel on Sunday and met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pledging support for Israel in its regional rivalry with Iran.