US, Russia to hold exclusive talks on Ukraine war in Riyadh Without Ukraine

U.S. delegation is set to meet with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia on February 18 to discuss potential negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.

The delegation will be led by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

It remains unclear who will represent Russia, though one source indicated that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is likely to attend.

The talks have raised concerns among European officials over Ukraine’s exclusion, with calls for Kyiv not to be sidelined in discussions about its own future. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was unaware of the meeting, having only learned about it through media reports.

“We did not discuss it. The media published something. I saw that someone mentioned a meeting in Saudi Arabia, but I do not know what it is,” Zelenskyy said on February 15 at the Munich Security Conference.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskyy, stated the same day that Ukraine would not take part in the meeting, dismissing the talks as unproductive. “There is nothing on the negotiating table worth discussing,” he told Ukrainian television, adding that “Russia is not ready for negotiations.”

U.S. President Donald Trump reassured on February 14 that Zelenskyy would have a role in the process and suggested that European nations could be permitted to purchase U.S.-made weapons for Ukraine. Rubio echoed similar sentiments, saying Ukraine and Europe must be involved in any serious negotiations with the U.S. and Russia.

Saudi-hosted discussions would be limited to U.S. and Russian officials in an effort to lay the groundwork for a potential summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin later this month.

The talks come as Zelenskyy conducts an official visit to the United Arab Emirates, with planned stops in Saudi Arabia and Türkiye in the coming days. He stated that he has no plans to meet with U.S. or Russian delegations while in the Middle East.

By Aghakazim Guliyev