US secretary of state arrives in Saudi Arabia for talks with Russia

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday, 17 February, to hold talks between the US and Russian delegations on the settlement of the war in Ukraine.

As reported by Reuters, Rubio, along with US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff, is part of the US delegation.

The talks in Saudi Arabia will be one of the first high-level face-to-face meetings between Russian and US officials in many years and should precede a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

Axios reports that the meeting between Russian and US officials will take place on Tuesday, 18 February.

On 16 February, Andrii Yermak, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said that no meetings with Russians were planned until a plan to end the war was developed.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was not aware of the meeting in Saudi Arabia and expressed concern that the plan for the meeting was developed outside of Kyiv's control.