Top Russian officials will hold talks with U.S. in Saudi Arabia on February 18

Top Russian officials to meet U.S. counterparts for talks on Ukraine war, U.S.-Russian relations, and Putin-Trump meeting.

Top Russian officials will hold talks with U.S. counterparts on restoring ties, negotiating a peaceful settlement to the war in Ukraine and preparing a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, the Kremlin said Monday (February 17, 2025).

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Mr. Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov will fly to the Saudi capital later in the day to take part in the talks set for Tuesday (February 18, 2025).

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

Mr. Peskov said the talks 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."

Speaking to journalists on a conference call from the United Arab Emirates on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country won’t take part in the talks this week, adding that they would “yield no results,” given the absence of any Ukrainian officials. European governments have also demanded a role.

The 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.” The call upended years of U.S. policy, ending the isolation of Moscow over its Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine. After the call with Putin, Trump phoned Mr. Zelenskyy to inform him about their conversation.

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