Trump Says Saudi Arabia May Host Talks With Putin on Ukraine

When President Trump said on Wednesday that he might soon meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to discuss an end to the nearly three-year war in Ukraine, he named what may have seemed like an unusual venue for the talks.“We expect that he’ll come here, and I’ll go there and we’re going to meet also probably in Saudi Arabia the first time,” Mr.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.“We’ll meet in Saudi Arabia, see if we can get something done.”Mr.

Trump cited both his and Mr.Putin’s relationship with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, as a reason for choosing the Gulf nation for their first meeting since he regained the White House.

“We know the crown prince, and I think it’d be a very good place to be,” Mr.Trump said.Saudi Arabia has increasingly played the role of mediator in the Russia-Ukraine war, along with its neighbor the United Arab Emirates.For Prince Mohammed, mediating the war presents an opportunity to solidify his status as a global leader with influence that extends beyond the Middle East.

It also enables him to position himself as a key intermediary capable of bringing powerful nations to the table, despite his continuing struggles to end Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the devastating war in Yemen.In September 2022, Prince Mohammed helped to broker the release of 10 prisoners from various countries as part of a broader exchange process between Russia and Ukraine.Later, in May 2023, he invited Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to speak at a gathering of Arab leaders in the Saudi city of Jeddah, where Mr.

Zelensky called on Middle Eastern nations to support Ukraine against Russia.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience...