Rubio meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a meeting Monday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh.
The State Department issued a statement on Rubio's meeting with the Saudi crown prince, saying Rubio emphasized the necessity of a Gaza solution that strengthens regional security. However, the statement didn't elaborate on how Rubio and Crown Prince Mohammed reconciled their differing opinions on Gaza's future.
Rubio has publicly supported President Trump's plan, which involves seizing control of Gaza and displacing Palestinians, a proposal Saudi Arabia opposes.
Tammy Bruce, a spokesperson for the department, said both officials talked about Syria, Lebanon, and security in the Red Sea. She did not say if Ukraine came up during the meeting.
Yet the meeting comes just one day before a planned discussion between U.S. and Russian officials, also in Saudi Arabia, aimed at finding a resolution to the conflict in Ukraine.
The discussions planned for Tuesday in Saudi Arabia represent a significant move by the Trump administration to change U.S. policy toward isolating Moscow and are intended to facilitate a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The recent surge in U.S. diplomacy regarding the Russia-Ukraine war has prompted Kyiv and important allies to act quickly to secure their involvement, fearing that Washington and Moscow might reach an agreement that could be detrimental to their interests.
France reacted to the changing U.S. policy by convening an emergency meeting with European Union nations and the U.K. on Monday to determine a course of action.
Leaders of Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark and the European Union arrived at the Élysée Palace for talks on Europe’s security. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is also attending the meeting.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has urged Europe to quickly select a representative for potential talks with the U.S. and Russia on ending Kyiv’s war with Russia.
“It should be a quickly made decision,” Igor Zhovkva, the deputy head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, told Bloomberg. “I hope right after the Paris meeting. We should act, not reflect.”
U.S. officials' trip to Riyadh comes following a phone conversation last week in which Trump and Putin decided to begin immediate talks.
Trump separately spoke with Zelensky, but the Ukrainian president said Saturday his country was not invited to any meeting between U.S. and Russian officials.
On Sunday, Trump told reporters Zelensky “will be involved" in the talks, but he stopped short of saying what role he would play.
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