US Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in Saudi Arabia on Monday, arriving ahead of anticipated discussions with Russian officials regarding an end to Moscow’s nearly three-year war in Ukraine.
The talks follow a phone call last week between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which Trump directed top officials to initiate negotiations on the conflict—a pledge he made repeatedly during his presidential campaign.
Saudi Arabia, which is also engaged in discussions with Washington regarding the future of the Gaza Strip, has played a role in facilitating early contacts between the new Trump administration and Moscow. This involvement helped secure a prisoner exchange last week.
Rubio, who spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by phone on Saturday, will meet with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia. He will be joined by Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, and White House Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff. A US lawmaker and an anonymous source told Reuters about the meeting, though it remains unclear which Russian officials will be in attendance.
According to the Russian newspaper Kommersant, citing unnamed sources, the talks are set to take place on Tuesday in Riyadh. This meeting marks one of the first high-level, face-to-face discussions in years between senior US and Russian officials, serving as a precursor to a potential meeting between the US and Russian presidents.
On Sunday, Rubio emphasized that the coming days and weeks would reveal whether Putin is genuinely committed to peace.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also in the region. After arriving in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, he expressed his intent to visit Saudi Arabia and Turkey, though no specific dates were confirmed. Zelensky stated that he had no plans to meet with Russian or US officials, and Ukraine is not believed to be included in the Saudi-hosted talks.
Gaza Discussions
Rubio is also expected to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), where discussions will likely include Trump’s proposal for Palestinian residents of Gaza to be resettled in other Arab nations, with the US leading reconstruction efforts in Gaza.
This proposal has sparked widespread anger across the Arab world and deepened concerns among Palestinians about being forcibly displaced from the coastal territory.
Gaza has been left in ruins following the war that began when Iran-backed Hamas militants launched an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages, according to Israeli authorities. In response, Israel launched a military offensive that, according to Gaza health officials, resulted in the deaths of over 48,000 Palestinians. A fragile ceasefire was established following an agreement last month.
Saudi Arabia, alongside other Arab nations, has firmly rejected any plan that involves resettling Palestinians elsewhere. Riyadh is instead leading regional efforts to develop an alternative proposal, which may include a Gulf-led reconstruction fund and an initiative to diminish Hamas’s influence.
MbS has also made it clear that Saudi Arabia will not normalize relations with Israel—a key objective for Washington—without a concrete agreement on a pathway to Palestinian statehood.
Before arriving in Saudi Arabia, Rubio visited Israel on Sunday, where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and reaffirmed US support for Israel amid ongoing regional tensions with Iran.
