RIYADH: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday, marking his first official visit to Riyadh, where he is expected to meet Saudi leaders, including Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman and Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.
The US top diplomat is heading a delegation to Saudi Arabia to set the stage for direct talks between US and Russian officials in the coming days, aiming to find a resolution to the Moscow-Ukraine war.
Rubio arrived in Riyadh from Israel where he met with senior officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
This visit comes after a phone call last week between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which they agreed to have their respective teams begin negotiations immediately.
Russia said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will 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 “the whole complex” of Russia-U.S. ties, Reuters news agency reported.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy advisor to President Vladimir Putin, would fly to the Saudi capital 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.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio played down expectations on Sunday for any immediate breakthrough in upcoming talks with Russian officials aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
While President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed he could end the conflict in a single day if re-elected, Rubio emphasised that resolving such a prolonged and complex war “will not be easy.”
