Feb. 17 (UPI) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday hoping to kickstart negotiations over wars in Ukraine and Gaza without its usual European partners. Rubio will meet with Kremlin officials in Riyadh to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war and its future without anyone from Kyiv participating. Rubio will be joined by Trump’s national security adviser Mike Waltz and U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s lead spokesman Dmitry Peskov said its Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, who leads Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, will be part of Moscow’s team.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr said earlier that his country would never accept a peace deal where it was not included in the negotiations.
Rubio is expected to lean on Saudi Arabia to agree to Trump’s plans for Gaza, including moving Palestinians out of Gaza into Egypt and Jordan.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested that Saudi Arabia could be a new home for Palestinians.
Rubio and Netanyahu met in Tel Aviv on Sunday where they discussed an interest in releasing the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza, destroying the militant group Hamas, and lessening Iran’s presence in the Middle East.