According to many sources from CNN, Bloomberg and other sources, senior officials of the US President Donald Trump administration are about to meet with Russian officials to launch negotiations to end the Ukrainian conflict.
US national security adviser Mike Waltz, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff are expected to travel to Saudi Arabia in the coming days to meet senior Russian officials, two sources told CNN.
The identity of the Russian side has not been announced yet, but it was previously reported that the Kremlin is gathering a high-level negotiating team, including leading political, intelligence and economic figures.
Last week, President Donald Trump said negotiations to end the nearly three-year war would begin "immediately" after a "long and very effective" phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This is the first phone call between the two leaders since President Trump took office last month. Mr. Trump has repeatedly emphasized his desire to end the conflict quickly.
House Foreign Affairs Commissioner Mike McCaul confirmed the plan in an interview with Politico at the Munich Security Conference (Germany), stressing that " Rubio, Waltz and Witkoff are being sent to Saudi Arabia to dialogue with Ukraine and Russia on the conflict."
President Trump also revealed the possibility of meeting President Putin in Saudi Arabia in the "near future" - possibly later this month, according to Bloomberg - and affirmed that Prince Mohammed bin Salman will play an important role in the negotiations.
Special Envoy Witkoff also revealed that the Saudi crown prince "played a decisive role" in helping to release US citizen Marc Fulent from Russian prison this week.
In a related move, the US State Department confirmed that US Secretary of State Rubio had a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The two sides pledged to continue contacting to prepare for the upcoming US-Russia summit.
At the same time, President Trump's special envoy on Russia-Ukraine, Mr. Keith Kellogg, said at the Munich Security Conference that Moscow would have to make important concession, especially regarding territory and a commitment not to use force.
According to Mr. Kellogg, the US could put pressure on Russia by cutting off alliances that Moscow has newly formed with Iran, North Korea and China. Washington could also tighten sanctions targeting Russia's oil revenue, which accounts for up to 70% of the country's military budget.
However, Mr. Trump was still cautious when talking about Russia's concession conditions: "It is too early to say what will happen. Maybe Russia will make a lot of allowances, maybe they won't. It's all about what happens."
Notably, Mr. Kellogg affirmed that Europe will not be present at the negotiation table. "Ukraine will of course attend, but Europe will not," he said, referring to the failure of the 2015 Minsk II deal, which involved Germany and France but did not bring lasting peace to the region.
With a parallel negotiation strategy between Russia and Ukraine, the Trump administration is accelerating the process of ending the conflict. However, whether Russia will accept the concession or not is still a big question mark.
