Trump announces upcoming peace talks in Saudi Arabia with Ukraine, Russia, and US representatives

US President Donald Trump has announced a meeting of senior US, Ukrainian, and Russian officials to be held next week in Saudi Arabia to discuss possible ways to end the war in Ukraine. The American leader also believes that Ukraine should have a permanent place at the negotiating table to end the war unleashed by Russia.

He stated this during a press conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

During a press conference in the White House's Oval Office, President Trump noted that the meeting in Saudi Arabia does not involve his personal participation or Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin's participation but will include senior officials from both countries, as well as representatives of Ukraine.

"Tomorrow there will be a meeting in Munich, then next week. The meeting in Saudi Arabia will not be with me or Putin, but with senior officials, and Ukraine will also be part of that meeting, and we will see if we can put an end to this terrible war," Trump said.

In a statement to reporters at the White House, Trump emphasized that Ukraine should be granted a permanent position at the negotiating table to help resolve the conflict initiated by Russia.

"Of course, they should [be at the negotiating table – ed.]. I mean, they are part of it," Trump said in response to a question about whether Ukraine should be present in the peace settlement negotiations.

He called it a "very interesting situation" where many players should be involved.

"But the war in Ukraine has to end," the White House chief stressed.

Trump also mentioned his phone calls with Zelensky and Putin the day before, saying they were good.

"Some people have said that I should have called Zelensky first. I don't think so.

I mean, we have to find out if Russia wants to make a deal. I know that Zelensky wants to make a deal because he told me so, but now I know that Russia wants to, too," he said.

In addition, Trump said that on Friday, meetings with the participation of representatives of the United States, Russia, and Ukraine are scheduled to take place at the Munich Security Conference.

"They will have a meeting in Munich tomorrow. Russia and our people will be there. By the way, Ukraine is also invited. It is unknown who will be there from which country, but it will be high-level representatives from Russia, Ukraine, and the United States," the head of the White House said.

The US president also noted that he fully supports the Pentagon head's statements in Brussels that Ukraine should not be part of NATO. At the same time, he accused Biden of promising Ukraine membership in the Alliance in the future.

"I think Biden is incompetent, and when he said that they [Ukrainians – ed.] could join NATO, I thought that was a lot of nonsense," Trump said.

It should be noted that the day before, Donald Trump avoided answering the question of whether Ukraine should be a full participant in negotiations to end the Russian war. After that, Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine would not accept bilateral peace talks without its participation.

In addition, it is essential for Ukraine that European partners are at the negotiating table.

For reference:

On January 29, Putin said that he was ready to "allocate people" for negotiations with Ukraine to end the war but called the talks themselves "illegitimate." In response, Zelensky said that with such statements, Putin only confirmed that he was afraid of negotiations and was trying to drag out the war. According to Ukraine's head of state, Russia is doing everything possible to either continue a full-scale invasion instead of real peace or to get a pause for preparing a new aggression.

In turn, ISW points out that Moscow is signaling efforts to force US President Donald Trump to agree to Kremlin head Vladimir Putin's demands and position itself as Trump's equal on the international stage.

In addition, on February 5, the Russian leader's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, publicly acknowledged for the first time the Kremlin's contacts with the new administration of US President Donald Trump.

Moreover, the head of the White House announced that his administration had scheduled meetings and preliminary discussions with the Ukrainian, Russian, and other parties regarding the end of the war.

As reported, on February 12, US President Donald Trump had a telephone conversation with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. They discussed, among other things, the war in Ukraine.

After that, Trump also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. According to the head of state, he and Trump agreed on further contacts and meetings.

According to the United States State Department, President Donald Trump's special representative for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, will visit Germany, Belgium, and Ukraine from February 13 to 22 to discuss with allies ways to end Russia's war in Ukraine.