Top Russia, US officials to meet in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday

MOSCOW: Top Russian and US officials will meet in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss improving ties, a “possible” truce in Ukraine and a summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

The talks come amid a burst of diplomacy on the Ukraine conflict, kick-started by the US leader’s phone calls to both Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky last week in which he pressed both presidents to end the fighting.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and a senior Putin aide Yury Ushakov will fly to Riyadh on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

The talks between the US and Russian counterparts will be “devoted primarily to restoring the whole complex of Russian-American relations,” Peskov said.

Moscow has said it wants to hold discuss a plethora of broad security issues other than a possible Ukraine ceasefire.

Russia has repeatedly blasted Western military alliance NATO’s presence in central and eastern Europe and had asked it to withdraw troops from several east European countries before launching its full-scale military offensive in Ukraine in February 2022.

Talks in Riyadh will also “be dedicated to possible negotiations on a Ukrainian resolution, and organising a meeting between the two presidents,” Peskov told reporters.