INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
on ending the war in Ukraine, as well as arranging a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and U.S
President Donald Trump sometime in the future.Over the weekend, Lavrov spoke by phone with U.S
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was set to arrive in Saudi Arabia on Monday after a stopover in Israel, Axios reported.Rubio is expected
to be joined by White House national security adviser Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who told Fox News on Sunday that he
was traveling to Saudi Arabia later that night.Axios, citing two anonymous sources, reported that the delegations will also prepare for a
meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S
President Donald Trump.State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce later on Monday provided a somewhat cautious assessment of what U.S
that Putin has assembled a negotiating team of senior officials, including longtime foreign policy envoy Yury Ushakov, Foreign Intelligence
Service (SVR) chief Sergei Naryshkin and Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev.Peskov did not mention Dmitriev during his daily
strengthening economic ties between Moscow and Washington.Trump first floated the idea of a meeting in Saudi Arabia last week Wednesday
after a surprise phone call with Putin
Riyadh announced Friday that it was open to hosting the summit.The prospect of direct U.S.-Russia talks without Ukrainian participation has
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was visiting the United Arab Emirates on Sunday but said he had no plans to meet with U.S
AFP contributed reporting.
