Top U.S., Russian officials will meet to discuss Ukraine – without, apparently, Ukraine

WASHINGTON - Diplomats from the United States and Russia are meeting in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday with a list of topics to discuss.

While the primary goal is to "restore" U.S.-Russian relations, Russia's war in Ukraine will be a key point as the officials sit down in Saudi Arabia.

Ukraine peace talks

What we know:

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov will fly to the Saudi capital later Monday to take part in the talks set for Tuesday.  

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the U.S. delegation. President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News Sunday that he and national security adviser Mike Waltz also will take part in the talks.

Peskov says the meetings will be primarily focused on "restoring the entire complex of U.S.-Russian relations, as well as preparing possible talks on the Ukrainian settlement and organizing a meeting of the two presidents."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is received by Saudi Arabia's Deputy Minister for Protocol Affairs Abdulmajeed al-Smari upon arrival at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on February 17, 2025. (Photo by EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/POOL/AFP via Getty

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What we don't know:

Ukraine's role in this week’s talks – if any – is uncertain. Speaking to journalists on a conference call from the United Arab Emirates on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country had not been invited and won’t take part in the talks this week, adding that they would "yield no results," given the absence of any Ukrainian officials. 

Trump on Sunday told reporters that Zelenskyy "will be involved," but did not elaborate.

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 planned U.S.-Russia talks there on Tuesday.

The backstory:

This week’s talks follow last week’s telephone call between Trump and Putin in which Trump said they "agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately." That call upended years of U.S. policy, ending the isolation of Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

Putin sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, amid Kyiv’s bid to join NATO that he cast as a major threat to Russia. He asked for NATO’s guarantee that it would never offer membership to Ukraine.

Putin expected a quick victory, but was met by steadfast Ukrainian resistance and a flow of Western weapons.

As of now, Russia controls about a fifth of Ukraine’s territory.

What they're saying:

Speaking on Fox News Channel, Witkoff said he and Waltz will be "having meetings at the direction of the president," and hope to make "some really good progress with regard to Russia-Ukraine."

Witkoff didn’t directly respond to a question about whether Ukraine would have to give up a "significant portion" of its territory as part of any negotiated settlement.

"Those are details, and I’m not dismissive of the details, they’re important. But I think the beginning here is trust-building. It’s getting everybody to understand that this war does not belong continuing, that it should end. That’s what the president has directed us to do," he said.