Related Post
The U.S. officials said that National security adviser Mike Waltz will join Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, the president’s Middle East envoy, in the coming days to start talks on ending the war.
However, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine-Russia talks, retired General Keith Kellogg, will not be in attendance, the officials said.
The officials also said there are no plans for representatives from other major European powers to join the talks. That could rankle NATO allies which have publicly urged President Donald Trump to ensure they have a seat at the negotiating table.
The meeting could mark a major moment in Trump’s quest for a peace process, and would also mark the first major meeting of Russian and Ukrainian representatives since the onset of the war in 2022.
Mike McCaul, a Republican lawmaker from Texas, confirmed the plans for Waltz and Witkoff to join Rubio in Saudi Arabia to start talks between the two warring sides during an interview at the POLITICO Pub on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
Two U.S. officials, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiation matters, confirmed the plans but did not elaborate on other details about the meetings, including which Ukrainian or Russian negotiators would take part.