BREAKING: Marco Rubio heads to Saudi Arabia for peace talks with Russia to end war in Ukraine: report

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other Trump administration officials will be meeting with negotiators from Russia to engage in peace talks in Saudi Arabia, according to a report from Politico. However, Ukrainian President Volymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was not invited to attend those talks.

The outlet reported that national security adviser Mike Waltz as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump's envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will be there for the meeting in order to start negotiating peace for the Russia-Ukraine war. Retired general Keith Kellogg, Trump's special envoy for Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations, however, will not be present.

Officials who spoke to Politico about the matter said that representatives from other major European nations will not be present for the meeting. Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX) confirmed the plans when speaking to reporter during an interview in Munich. On Wednesday, Trump said that he is planning on meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia.

“We ultimately expect to meet," Trump said at the time. "We'll meet in Saudi Arabia, see if we can get something done."

McCaul told reporters his take on the situation, “The president wants peace. But it's got to be a deal where the Ukrainians are at the table in this deal now.” The GOP representative is the former chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Without other NATO countries at the table for the peace talks with the Trump administration officials, it could leave some European leaders feeling uneasy about their relationship with the US with respect to a potential peace deal. This comes after Vice President JD Vance gave an impassioned speech on Friday, calling on EU countries to stand up for western values and ideals such as free speech and the democratic process.



This article has been updated to reflect Ukraine saying they do not intend to attend the meeting.