US-Russia talks will be held on February 18 in Riyadh

^{Photo: Reuters / Nathan Howard / Evgenia Novozhenina}
On Tuesday, February 18, representatives of the United States and Russia will hold talks in Saudi Arabia to end the war in Ukraine. This was reported by the American portal Axios on the night of Monday, February 17, citing sources.

Composition of the Russian and US delegations

According to Axios sources, the US delegation will include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Donald Trump's special representative for the Middle East Steve Whitkoff. He said on Fox News on Sunday that he and Waltz will travel to Saudi Arabia on the evening of February 16. Rubio will arrive there after a visit to Israel on February 17, Axios writes.

The exact composition of the Russian delegation is unknown. Axios believes that it will most likely include Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. According to Bloomberg, the Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov and the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin will also be there. In addition, the negotiations are being led by Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, who studied and worked in the United States.

The Kommersant newspaper also reported on February 16, citing sources, that the talks will take place in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The publication also gave the exact location: Riyadh.

Will Ukraine participate in the talks?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on February 15 that Kiev had not received an invitation to the meeting in Saudi Arabia. A day later, Trump said that the Ukrainian leader would participate in talks to end the war. Witkoff said the same. Rubio said in an interview with CBS that any "real negotiations" would involve both Ukraine and European countries.

Zelensky himself arrived in the United Arab Emirates on an official visit on the evening of February 16. According to FlightAware, the Ukrainian president's plane flew from Munich to Rzeszow-Jasenka Airport in Poland on Sunday, and then to Abu Dhabi. From there, the flight to Riyadh takes two hours. Follow “Zamin” news on “Telegram”