The Saudi Foreign Ministry said on Friday that it “commends” the possibility of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the kingdom in the latest sign of growing momentum between the United States and Saudi Arabia during Trump’s second term.
The ministry stated that Saudi Arabia would be eager to host a meeting between the two leaders regarding the Ukraine war in a statement that said the kingdom “expresses its welcome to hosting the summit in Saudi Arabia, and reaffirms its ongoing efforts to achieve a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine.”
Trump said he held calls with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday to discuss efforts to end the war. Speaking to reporters the same day, he indicated that he might meet Putin in Saudi Arabia for further talks.
“We ultimately expect to meet. In fact, we expect that he'll come here, and I'll go there, and we're gonna meet also probably in Saudi Arabia the first time,” he said at the White House. “We'll meet in Saudi Arabia, see if we can get something done.”
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