U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he will likely visit Saudi Arabia within the next month and a half. Recently, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also the Prime Minister, stated that the Kingdom has many matters to discuss with the United States at the level of bilateral relations, as well as regarding the region and in various fields. This came during his reception of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the capital, Riyadh, on February 17, on the eve of talks concerning Ukraine.
On February 20, President Trump thanked Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for making Saudi Arabia a venue for U.S.-Russian talks in Riyadh, describing the Kingdom as “a special place with special leaders.” During the opening of the “Priority” summit for Saudi Arabia’s “Future Investment Initiative” in Miami, he stated that the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, held in Riyadh, represented a significant development toward ending the war. He added, “I would like to thank Saudi Arabia for hosting this historic summit, but in particular, we must thank Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for hosting these historic talks, which went very well.”
In a related context, Saudi Arabia welcomed, on Friday, hosting a planned meeting between the United States and Ukraine in Jeddah next week. In a statement from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it affirmed its continued efforts to achieve lasting peace to end the Ukrainian crisis, having pursued such efforts over the past three years by hosting several meetings on this matter.
An American news website reported that senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials will meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss efforts to end the Russian-Ukrainian war. The site quoted two informed sources expecting the participation of U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the meetings.
