Top Trump officials set to meet with senior Russian officials to begin Ukraine talks
CNN
Top Trump administration officials are set to meet with senior Russian officials to begin talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, according to multiple sources.
Top Trump administration officials are set to meet with senior Russian officials to begin talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, according to multiple sources. National security adviser Mike Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff are expected to travel to Saudi Arabia for the meeting with senior Russian officials, two sources familiar with the plans told CNN. One of the sources said the meeting will take place in the coming days. The sources declined to say which Russian officials would be in attendance, but CNN has previously reported the Kremlin is assembling a high-level negotiating team to engage in direct talks with the US, including top-level political, intelligence and economic figures, and Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian official who played a key behind-the-scenes role in a recent US prisoner release deal. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Mike McCaul also confirmed the plans during an interview with Politico at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, saying, “Rubio and Waltz and Witkoff (are) being dispatched to Saudi to talk to the Ukrainians and the Russians about Ukraine.” The State Department had previously announced Rubio would travel to Saudi Arabia in the coming days as part of a larger trip to Munich and the Middle East. Rubio, who landed in Israel on Saturday, held a call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier in the day, the State Department said in a statement. “The Secretary re-affirmed President Trump’s commitment to finding an end to the conflict in Ukraine,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said. “In addition, they discussed the opportunity to potentially work together on a number of other bilateral issues.”
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