Top Trump administration officials to head to Saudi Arabia for Russia-Ukraine peace talks
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff are planning to head to Saudi Arabia to initiate negotiations toward peace between Russia and Ukraine, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.
Witkoff told Fox News on Sunday morning that he is traveling to Saudi Arabia with Waltz later in the evening.
The move comes just days after President Donald Trump said he spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the prospect of beginning negotiations to end the war.
“We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Wednesday after the call. “We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately.”
Senior Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Rubio and U.S. special envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg, have been huddling in Germany this weekend for the Munich Security Conference, a forum for international security policy where the Russia-Ukraine war remains a critical topic of discussion.
Rubio spoke by phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday. Their discussion included the war in Ukraine and other topics, according to readouts of the call from both countries.
During a speech at the security conference Saturday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine must be involved with any negotiations to end the war.
“Ukraine will never accept deals made behind our backs,” he said. “No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine, no decisions about Europe without Europe.”
During a panel discussion Saturday on the sidelines of the conference, Kellogg said that “of course” Ukrainians would be at the table in discussions to end the war. However, he said “the answer is no” when asked whether he could assure Europeans that they too would have a seat at the table.
“When you sit at the table, there’s really, there’s two protagonists when you look at it, and there’s one, hopefully it’ll be an intermediary,” Kellogg added. When the moderator asked for clarification, he indicated that Ukrainians, Russians and Americans would be “at the table talking.”
He later said that a group not being at the table “doesn’t mean the interests are not taking a part of, they’re not considered, they’re not used, they’re not developed.”
An aide close to Zelenskyy said that as of Saturday evening, Ukraine has still not been invited to the peace talks between the U.S. and Russia in Saudi Arabia.
“It is dangerous to speak with enemies before you speak with allies,” the aide added. “Ukraine’s position remains unchanged: We need to have a joint position of Ukraine, the U.S. and Europe before any negotiations with Putin.”
Two U.S. officials confirmed that Ukraine was not invited to the talks in Saudi Arabia, but say the intention is for the U.S. to host a bilaterial with Russia, then a bilateral with Ukraine and then talks together.
“All to say, we are working with both [Russia and Ukraine] with the same weight,” One of the officials said. “We want to end the killing and get headed to lasting peace.”
Kellogg on Saturday defended the prospect of engaging with Putin in an effort to achieve peace between Russia and Ukraine, saying in Munich, “Whether you like it or not, you have to talk to adversaries.”
“As a great secretary of defense, Gen. Mattis, once said: I may not like this son of a b—-, but I got to talk to him,” he added.
Kellogg also said that Western leaders need to do more to enforce sanctions against Russia, adding that negotiations about ending the war could focus on Russia’s willingness to cede territory and targeting Putin’s oil revenue.
But some members of the administration have seemed reluctant in recent days to specify any particular concessions from Russia ahead of potential negotiations.
Asked Thursday what Russia should give up in order to reach a deal with Ukraine, Trump declined to name specifics.
“As far as the negotiation, it’s too early to say what’s going to happen. Maybe Russia will give up a lot, maybe they won’t, and it’s all dependent on what is going to happen,” Trump said during a news conference alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has signaled the U.S. would be opposed to Ukraine joining NATO as part of a negotiated peace, indicated that the U.S. is likely to support negotiations in which Ukraine cedes territory that’s already been seized by the Kremlin.
“We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. But we must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective,” Hegseth said in a speech during a trip to NATO’s headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday.
