RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) 鈥� Senior American and Russian officials, including the countries鈥� top diplomats, will hold talks on improving their ties and negotiating an end to , officials said Monday, in what would be the most significant meeting between the sides since Moscow's full-scale invasion of its neighbor nearly three years ago.
The talks scheduled for Tuesday in Saudi Arabia mark another pivotal step by the Trump administration on isolating Russia, and are meant to pave the way for a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The recent U.S. diplomatic blitz on the war has sent Kyiv and key allies scrambling to ensure a seat at the table amid concerns that Washington and Moscow could press ahead with a deal that won't be favorable to them. France called an of European Union countries and the U.K. on Monday to decide how to respond.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov arrived in the Saudi capital on Monday, according to Russian state TV. Ushakov said the talks would be 鈥減urely bilateral鈥� and would not include Ukrainian officials.
The U.S. delegation, he said, is made up of 鈥渟erious people鈥� but said Russia 鈥渃ame with a serious approach too.鈥� It is important, Ushakov said, 鈥渢o start the real normalization of relations鈥� between Russia and the U.S.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will meet the Russian delegation, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the talks will be primarily focused on 鈥渞estoring the entire range of U.S.-Russian relations, as well as preparing possible talks on the Ukrainian settlement and organizing a meeting of the two presidents." Bruce said the meeting is aimed at determining how serious the Russians are about wanting peace and whether detailed negotiations can be started.
鈥淚 think the goal, obviously, for everyone is to determine if this is something that can move forward,鈥� she told reporters traveling with Rubio in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Bruce said that even though Ukraine would not be at the table for Tuesday鈥檚 talks, actual peace negotiations would only take place with Ukraine鈥檚 involvement. Kyiv's participation in any peace talks was a bedrock of U.S. policy under Trump鈥檚 predecessor, Joe Biden.
Speaking on Fox News Channel鈥檚 鈥淪unday Morning Futures鈥� program, Witkoff said he and Waltz will be 鈥渉aving meetings at the direction of the president,鈥� and hope to make 鈥渟ome really good progress with regard to Russia-Ukraine.鈥�
Witkoff didn鈥檛 directly respond to a question about whether Ukraine would have to give up a 鈥渟ignificant portion鈥� of its territory as part of any negotiated settlement. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that NATO membership for Ukraine was unrealistic and suggested Kyiv should abandon hopes of winning all its territory back from Russia 鈥� two .
The talks would mark a significant expansion of U.S.-Russian contacts, nearly three years into a war that has seen ties fall to the lowest level in decades. Lavrov and then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meeting in India nearly two years ago. The 10-minute conversation didn't ease tensions, and in fact they increased in the months that followed. In the fall of 2022, U.S. and Russian spymasters met in Turkey amid Washington's concerns that Moscow could resort to nuclear weapons amid battlefield setbacks.
Tuesday's talks follow a in which the American president said they 鈥渁greed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately.鈥� The call upended years of U.S. policy, ending the isolation of Moscow over its Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine. After the call, Trump to inform him about their conversation.
Trump on Sunday told reporters that Zelenskyy 鈥渨ill be involved鈥� but did not elaborate. The Ukrainian president said Monday his country had not been invited to the upcoming talks and won鈥檛 accept the outcome if Kyiv doesn鈥檛 take part.
The U.S.-Russia talks would 鈥測ield no results,鈥� given the absence of any Ukrainian officials, Zelenskyy said on a conference call with journalists from the United Arab Emirates.
Zelenskyy said he would travel to Turkey on Monday and to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, but that his trip to the Arab nation was unrelated to the U.S.-Russia talks.
EU officials have pushed for the bloc 鈥� which along with the U.S. has staunchly supported Kyiv 鈥� to have a say in any Ukraine peace talks, and Zelenskyy and his officials also insisted that Europe needs to be present at the negotiations.
Lavrov on Monday was dismissive when asked about a possible role for Europe, saying that 鈥淚 don't know what they have to do at the negotiations table.鈥�
Asked about expectations from the talks in Riyadh, he said that Trump and Putin in their call 鈥渁greed to leave behind that absolutely abnormal period in relations between our great powers when they effectively halted any contacts except for some technical and humanitarian issues.鈥�
鈥淭he presidents agreed that it's necessary to resume a dialogue on all issues that can be solved with Russian and U.S. participation,鈥� Lavrov said. 鈥淭hey mentioned the Ukrainian settlement along with the situation in the Middle East and some other regions of the world which aren't quite calm at the moment.鈥�
Lavrov bluntly ruled out the possibility that Moscow would cede any of its territorial gains as part of a potential settlement, saying that 鈥渢here is not even a thought鈥� about it.
Putin has demanded that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the four regions that Russia illegally annexed in September 2022 but never fully captured and renounce its bid to join NATO as part of any prospective peace deal 鈥� demands Kyiv has rejected.
Ushakov, Putin鈥檚 foreign affairs aide, said the Riyadh talks will focus on 鈥渢he restoration of normal ties, the possible start of Ukraine talks and the prospects of contacts on the top level.鈥�
He said that Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, could join the Russian delegation. Dmitriev reportedly helped broker last week鈥檚 release of American Marc Fogel, who was freed in exchange for Alexander Vinnik, a Russian cryptocurrency expert who faced Bitcoin fraud charges in the United States.
Zelenskyy also confirmed that Trump鈥檚 special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, retired Gen. Keith Kellogg, would arrive in Kyiv on Feb. 20 for 鈥渂road conversations about security guarantees.鈥�
Zelenskyy said he wanted to bring Kellogg to the front line and hoped the American would take what he learned from his Ukraine trip back to the White House, adding: 鈥淚 think after he goes back to the United States we will have an understanding on when I will have a meeting with President Trump.鈥�
Zelenskyy said the possibility of opening up his country鈥檚 mineral resources to the U.S., , would need to come with a written agreement on . Ukraine and several European countries have insisted that without security guarantees, Russia could invade the country again, even if a settlement is reached.
Those guarantees could include NATO membership, which Hegseth poured cold water on, weapons and economic support, Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine has also expressed hopes of joining the EU, but that is complicated and .
___
Spike reported from Kyiv, Ukraine, and Hatton from Lisbon, Portugal.
___
Follow AP鈥檚 coverage of the war in Ukraine at
Matthew Lee, Justin Spike And Barry Hatton, The Associated Press
