Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz are all traveling to Saudi Arabia for the talks. <\/p>\n
A Ukrainian official said they would not be present at the talks though Keith Kellogg, the Trump administration\u2019s Russia-Ukraine envoy, discussed a \u201cdual track\u201d set of negotiations and will be in Kyiv this week. On Sunday, US President Donald Trump said the Ukrainians would be part of the negotiations. <\/p>\n
News of the US-Russia talks came as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday he was \u201cready and willing\u201d to put British troops on the ground in Ukraine to enforce a peace deal if necessary. <\/p>\n
Writing in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Starmer said he does not take the possibility lightly but reasoned that helping to guarantee Ukraine\u2019s security would also strengthen the security of the United Kingdom and Europe. <\/p>\n
He called on European nations to increase their defense spending and \u201ctake on a greater role in NATO,\u201d but said US support would remain critical for guaranteeing peace. The prime minister also said he would meet with Trump and other G7 allies in the coming days to secure a strong deal. <\/p>\n
Starmer is among the European leaders who will take part in an emergency summit on Ukraine on Monday amid growing concern that the Trump administration\u2019s push to work with Russia to end the war has left them isolated. <\/p>\n
The Elys\u00e9e Palace said French President Emmanuel Macron would hold an \u201cinformal\u201d meeting Monday with \u201cthe heads of government of Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark, as well as the President of the European Council, the President of the European Commission and the Secretary General of NATO.\u201d <\/p>\n
Starmer on Saturday called the European meeting a \u201conce in a generation\u201d moment for national security and said the UK would \u201cwork to ensure we keep the US and Europe together,\u201d according to a Downing Street statement. \u201cWe cannot allow any divisions in the alliance to distract from the external enemies we face,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Trump has talked openly about the Saudis playing a key role in the negotiations and the country has been an important part of US foreign policy under his presidency. <\/p>\n
It was just a week ago that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman helped facilitate the release of Marc Fogel in Russia. <\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s first foreign trip in 2017 was to Saudi Arabia. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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