US Trump representatives meet Russian officials for Ukraine talks

US Trump representatives meet Russian officials for Ukraine talks

in Tel Aviv, Israel, have taken up high-ranking officials from the Trump administration talks with leading Russian representatives to end the war in Ukraine, as several sources report.

planned meeting in Saudi Arabia

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Foreign Minister Marco Rubio and Middle East sent Steve Witkoff are expected to travel to Saudi Arabia to meet with high-ranking Russian office. According to two sources familiar with the plans, the meeting will take place in the coming days.

participating Russian officials

The sources did not want to confirm which Russian officials will be present. However, CNN has already reported that the Kremlin is putting together a high-ranking negotiation team that is supposed to have direct discussions with the USA, including political, intelligence and economic leaders and Kirill Dmitriev, who played a decisive role in a recently negotiated US adhesion agreement.

confirmation of the talks at the Munich Security Conference

Mike McCaul, chairman of the Federal Foreign Committee of the House of Representatives, confirmed the plans during an interview with Politico at the Munich Security Conference. He said: "Rubio, Waltz and Witkoff are sent to Saudi Arabia to talk to the Ukrainians and Russians about Ukraine."

Rubios trip and conversations with Lavrov

The Foreign Ministry had previously announced that Rubio will travel to Saudi Arabia in the coming days, as part of a major trip to Munich and the Middle East. Rubio, who landed in Israel on Saturday, had a conversation with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as a statement by the Foreign Ministry states.

commitment to peace in Ukraine

"The minister has confirmed President Trump's commitment to find an end point for the conflict in Ukraine," said the spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, Tammy Bruce. "They also discussed the opportunity to work together in a variety of other bilateral questions."

role of Europeans in the negotiations

Rubios calls, while Keith Kellogg, the Russia Ukraine representative of the Trump administration, said on Saturday that Europeans would not be sitting at the negotiating table to find a solution to the war in Ukraine. "The answer is no," said Kellogg at an event on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

dual negotiation strategy

Kellogg described the efforts for a peace agreement as a "dual track" - with a Russian and a Ukrainian line of negotiation. "When you look at the news, you will see that the (Trump) envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is involved because he is pursuing the Russian line. And I am working on the American-Ukrainian alliance line."

Potential encounter between Trump and Putin

President Donald Trump indicated Earlier that he could possibly meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia in the near future, warned that no formal decision was made. "We think we will probably meet in Saudi Arabia, the first meeting," said Trump about a potential meeting with Putin.

Saudi Arabia as a key player

The president suggested that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman will play a role in the discussions. Witkoff also mentioned that the Saudi Crown Prince "significantly" involved in the release of the wrongly imprisoned American Marc Fogel, who took place this week.

The reporting of CNN’s Alex Marquardt and Sebastian Shucla in Munich also contributed to this report.