US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia: Will Ukraine have seat at the table
Photo: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (RBC-Ukraine collage)
On Tuesday, February 18, a meeting between US and Russian delegations at the senior official level will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Among other topics, the parties will discuss ways to resolve the Russia-Ukraine war.
RBC-Ukraine has gathered key details about the upcoming meeting and explains whether Ukraine will be present.
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Will Ukraine be among the participants in Saudi Arabia
Last week, US President Donald Trump held phone conversations with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Following these calls, the White House leader announced plans to visit Russia, while Putin stated he intended to visit the US However, before these visits, the two politicians are reportedly set to meet in Saudi Arabia.
Later, Trump announced that this week (February 17–23), American and Russian officials would meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss war resolution. According to him, Ukraine was also supposed to participate.
However, a source in the Ukrainian presidential team told RBC-Ukraine that Ukraine had no plans to hold negotiations in Saudi Arabia next week.
Later, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented that he would visit Saudi Arabia but had no intention of meeting with the Russians there.
Presidential Office adviser Mykhailo Podolyak also denied reports that Ukraine would participate in U.S.-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia, as claimed by some media outlets.
"President Zelenskyy has stated that there are no Ukrainian negotiators who will represent Ukraine in Saudi Arabia. As of today, there is nothing on the negotiation table that could be discussed," Podolyak said.
On February 14, Zelenskyy announced that he had scheduled visits to the UAE with his agenda. A few days later, he and First Lady Olena Zelenska began an official visit to the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, on February 16, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko stated that a Ukrainian government delegation, led by her, was in Saudi Arabia preparing for Zelenskyy’s visit to the country.
According to her, Kyiv is preparing to sign important economic agreements with regional countries. However, her statement did not mention negotiations on the war resolution taking place in Saudi Arabia.
US-Russia negotiations: Who will represent each side
It is clear from official statements that discussions in Riyadh will only involve the US and Russia — without Ukraine.
Ukraine will not be present at these negotiations. However, as RBC-Ukraine noted in its Munich Conference analysis, this should not be overly alarming — for example, Russia was not present at the Munich talks either. Moreover, Trump and his team are unlikely to develop a concrete peace plan without first engaging with the Russians.
So far, Ukraine insists that any negotiations must be based on returning to the borders of February 23, 2022 — a topic that will likely be discussed in the week-long US-Russia negotiations in Saudi Arabia.
As of now, it is confirmed that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has already arrived in Saudi Arabia ahead of the talks between Russia and the US, according to Reuters.
News outlets Axios and NBC News report that the US-Russia delegation meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, February 18.
In addition to Rubio, the US will be represented by National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Trump’s Special Representative for Middle East Affairs Steve Witkoff. Notably, Witkoff handles contacts with Moscow, while another Trump envoy, Keith Kellogg, oversees discussions with Kyiv.
On the Russian side, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Kremlin’s Chief Foreign Policy Adviser Yuri Ushakov will participate, according to Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg previously reported that the meeting might also include Sergey Naryshkin, Director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, and Kirill Dmitriev, a prominent Russian financier.
According to NBC, citing two US officials, Ukraine was not invited to these negotiations in Saudi Arabia. They explained that the Trump administration first plans to hold a bilateral meeting with Russia and then a separate bilateral meeting with Ukraine. A joint US-Russia-Ukraine negotiation round is supposedly planned after these bilateral discussions.
Will Trump and Putin meet in Riyadh
Earlier, US President Donald Trump stated that he could meet "very soon" with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to discuss a ceasefire in Ukraine.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia expressed readiness to host a Trump-Putin meeting on its soil. Moreover, according to CNN, Riyadh intends not only to provide a venue for U.S.-Russia talks but also to act as a mediator.
However, Trump clarified that this week in Saudi Arabia, a meeting will occur between high-ranking U.S. and Russian officials—not between him and Putin.
"In Saudi Arabia, there will be a meeting — not between me and President Putin, but between senior officials," Trump said.
According to him, the date of his meeting with Putin "has not yet been set" but will be arranged soon.
Sources: Axios, NBC News, CNN, Reuters.
