U.S. and Russian officials will meet in Saudi Arabia in coming days to start talks aimed at ending Moscow's nearly three-year war in Ukraine, a U.S. lawmaker and a source familiar with the planning said on Saturday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who met with U.S. Vice President JD Vance in Germany on Friday, said Ukraine was not invited to the talks in Saudi Arabia and Kyiv would not engage with Russia before consulting with strategic partners.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Saudi Arabia, U.S. Representative Michael McCaul told Reuters. It was not immediately clear who they would meet from Russia.
Rubio spoke by phone on Saturday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and agreed on regular contacts to prepare for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, Russia's Foreign Ministry said.
The phone call was held at the initiative of the U.S. side, it added.
"The two sides expressed their mutual willingness to interact on pressing international issues, including the settlement around Ukraine, the situation around Palestine and in general in the Middle East and other regional directions," the ministry said in a statement.
On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, McCaul said the aim of the talks was to arrange a meeting that included Zelenskyy, Trump and Putin "to finally bring peace and end this conflict."
A source with knowledge of the plans confirmed the talks in Saudi Arabia between U.S. and Russian officials. The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Zelenskyy said on Saturday Ukraine would never accept any peace deals reached behind its back or without Kyiv's involvement. Ukraine has repeatedly said it wants to come together with the United States and Europe to devise a joint strategy before any Trump-Putin meeting.
Trump, who took office on January 20, has repeatedly vowed to swiftly end the Ukraine war. He made separate phone calls to Putin and Zelenskyy on Wednesday, leaving Washington's European allies alarmed that they will be cut out of any peace process.
Those fears were largely confirmed on Saturday when Trump's Ukraine envoy said Europe won't have a seat at the table, after Washington sent a questionnaire to European capitals to ask what they could contribute to security guarantees for Kyiv.
Keith Kellogg, special envoy for Ukraine-Russia talks, told the Munich conference that the U.S. would act as an intermediary in the talks, with Ukraine and Russia as the two protagonists.
Asked about the prospects of the Europeans being at the table, Kellogg said: "I'm (from) a school of realism. I think that's not gonna happen."
At a later event at the conference, Kellogg sought to reassure Europeans by declaring this did not mean "their interests are not considered, used or developed."
But European leaders said they would not accept being shut out of the talks.
Zelenskyy said on Friday he would visit the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but did not say when. However, the Ukrainian leader said he had no plans to meet with U.S. or Russian officials during those visits.
Moscow controls a fifth of Ukraine and has been slowly advancing in the east for months, while Kyiv's smaller army grapples with manpower shortages and tries to hold a chunk of territory in western Russia.
Russia has demanded Kyiv cede territory and become permanently neutral under any peace deal. Ukraine demands Russia withdraw from captured land and wants NATO membership or equivalent security guarantees to prevent attack by Moscow.
The United States and Europe have given Ukraine tens of billions of dollars in military aid since the war started. Trump has said he backs Ukraine but is seeking security for U.S. funding for Kyiv.
The U.S. and Ukraine are negotiating a deal that could open up Ukraine's vast natural wealth to U.S. investment. Three sources said the U.S. proposed taking ownership of 50% of Ukraine's critical minerals. Zelenskyy said on Saturday that the draft deal did not contain the security provisions Kyiv needed.
Also on Saturday, France discussed with its allies holding an informal summit of European leaders to discuss Ukraine, a French presidency official said on Saturday, and four European diplomats said the meeting was likely to go ahead on Monday.
Speaking on a panel at the Munich conference on Saturday, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski also said that French President Emmanuel Macron had called for a summit of European leaders in Paris.
"President Trump has a method of operating, which the Russians call reconnaissance through battle. You push and you see what happens, and then you change your position, legitimate tactics. And we need to respond," Sikorski said.
The Dutch news agency reported that Prime Minister Dick Schoof would go to Paris on Monday for the summit.
It was unclear whether Zelenskyy would be invited.
