Saudi Arabia is ready to host the planned meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, the kingdom's foreign ministry said last night, quoted by DPA.
Trump and Putin spoke by phone on Wednesday and agreed to start "immediately" negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
The Saudi foreign ministry said it highly appreciated the phone call between Trump and Putin. "The Kingdom expresses its readiness to host a summit in Saudi Arabia and confirms its ongoing efforts to achieve lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine", Saudi diplomacy said in "Ex".
There are still no specific details on what the negotiations will look like and when they could officially begin.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday in Moscow that the heads of state have not yet made a firm decision, nor can he say when the meeting will take place. "It could be weeks, months or several months", he stressed to Russian media.
So far, Saudi Arabia has tried to maintain a neutral position in the conflict and has offered to act as a mediator on several occasions.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly rejected peace talks in Ukraine without the participation of Kiev. "We need to develop a joint strategy with the US and Europe to achieve a just peace and sit down together at the negotiating table", he said yesterday in "Ex".
Russian President Vladimir Putin is repeating the mistakes of Russia's past, trying to restore the Russian Empire and suffocate neighboring countries. The West, for its part, did not do enough in its first invasion of Ukraine in 2014, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Defense Secretary John Healy said in a joint article in the "Telegraph" newspaper, quoted by BTA.
When Putin launched his invasion nearly 3 years ago, he thought the same thing would happen and believed he would win his war in three days. Yet Ukrainians continue to fight with great courage and the support of their friends.
Both Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky have spoken of their desire to achieve "peace through strength", British ministers have stressed. And the support Ukraine is receiving provides the strength to achieve that peace. Ukraine, Britain, Europe and the United States agree on this.
The two ministers are calling on Britain and Europe to "do more" to "share the burden" of regional security. But any lasting peace will require "a continued US commitment to its allies through NATO", they warn, as world leaders prepare to meet again today at the Munich Security Conference.
The new security arrangements should include: "Europe redoubles its efforts to do more for the security of its own continent; "a continued, long-term commitment of the US to its allies through NATO; and British support for the US and allies in the Indo-Pacific region".
Both ministers are in Germany for the security summit, and today Lamy will take part in sessions on Europe's geopolitical role and the plan for Ukraine, DPA notes.
The war in Ukraine dominates the agenda of the summit in Germany, after US President Donald Trump said earlier this week that he had agreed with his Russian counterpart to start "negotiations" to end the conflict, DPA notes. At a meeting with US Vice President J.D. Vance yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he wanted "security guarantees" before peace talks.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Zelensky that Britain was committed to Ukraine getting "an irreversible path" to join NATO after the US appeared to rule out its membership.