Ukraine, Russia hold talks in Saudi Arabia, France calls for European summit

Senior Trump administration officials are set to begin peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Saudi Arabia in the coming days, a U.S. congressman and a source familiar with the matter said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Walz and White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Saudi Arabia, Representative Michael McCaul told Reuters.

McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he had learned that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had been invited to participate. He said the talks were aimed at setting up a meeting between Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky “to finally bring peace and end this conflict.”

Zelensky said earlier in the day that Ukraine would never accept any peace deals reached behind its back or without Kiev’s participation. Ukraine has repeatedly said it wants to work with the United States and Europe to develop a common strategy ahead of any meeting between Trump and Putin.

Parallel negotiations on a rare earths deal between Ukraine and the United States continued today.

In this regard, Zelensky said that the Washington draft did not include the security conditions that Kiev needed. Three sources said that the United States proposed acquiring 50% of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals.

Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday that Ukraine would have a seat at the table during any peace negotiations with Russia to end the war.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Saturday, reaffirming Trump's commitment to trying to end the war in Ukraine. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Rubio "reaffirmed President Trump's commitment to finding a solution to the conflict in Ukraine," adding that they "in addition discussed the possibility of working together on a number of other bilateral issues."

For its part, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the two ministers expressed "mutual readiness to cooperate on current international issues, including the settlement of Ukraine, the situation in Palestine and the Middle East as a whole, as well as other regional areas."

Washington: Europe will not participate directly in negotiations

In the context, US Special Representative for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg said that Europe will not participate directly in the peace negotiations that will be held to end the Russian-Ukrainian war, but its interests will be taken into account. This came during a speech he delivered on Saturday at an event on Ukraine held on the sidelines of the 61st Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany.

Kellogg noted that the United States wants to avoid the problems of negotiating processes that involve a large number of participants. He said that one of the reasons for the failure of previous peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia was the involvement of too many countries in the process.

"We are not going to take that path," the US diplomat added. He explained that Europe will not participate directly in the negotiations that will be held, but that European countries will be consulted and their interests will be taken into account during this process. Kellogg also noted that the peace plan will take shape "in the coming days or weeks."

According to information obtained by the German news agency "DPA", the US administration has asked Germany and other European countries to submit reports on their possible contributions to security guarantees for Ukraine, noting that these countries will have to clarify matters, including the number of soldiers they could send to Ukraine to participate in a peacekeeping force or training programs after the end of the Russian war. The request also includes information on weapons systems and what these countries expect from the United States in this context.

This American request, according to the agency, is apparently linked to Trump's plan to hold a meeting with Putin to discuss reaching a solution to end the war. If an agreement is reached, Trump expects the Europeans to take responsibility for preventing Russia from launching a new attack on Ukraine.

Europeans were surprised last week by Trump's initiative to hold talks with Putin, and they now fear that Ukraine will be forced to make concessions it does not want, such as temporarily abandoning its bid to join NATO.

The United States has already announced that it will not send American troops to Ukraine. On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said he was aware of the existence of the American questionnaire but had not personally seen it, adding that he fully understood its purpose in focusing discussions on the future of the conflict.

France discusses with allies holding informal summit on Ukraine

In Europe, a French presidential official said on Saturday that France was discussing with its allies holding an informal summit of European leaders to discuss the situation in Ukraine, while four European diplomats said the summit was likely to be held on Monday.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, speaking at a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, said French President Emmanuel Macron had called for a summit of European leaders in Paris.

“Trump is following a method of operation that the Russians call reconnaissance through battle,” Shykorsky said. “You push, you see what happens, and then you change your position, and these are legitimate tactics. We have to have a response to them.”

Zelenskyy on Tuesday called for the creation of a European army, saying the continent no longer trusted the United States to protect it. Discussions are ongoing to determine who would be invited to such a summit, the four diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

Two of them said that Britain, a non-EU member state, had received an invitation. The Dutch news agency ANP reported that Prime Minister Dick Schoof would travel to Paris on Monday to attend the summit.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sepah said at the Munich conference on Saturday that his country was ready to discuss "in-depth" with the United States how to move forward in ending the war with Russia, adding that security on both sides of the Atlantic and Ukraine's security were inseparable. He said there was "a very simple recipe for how to end the war... (which is) US leadership."

(Reuters, AFP, Anadolu, Associated Press)