Putin sends Russia's top diplomat and Kremlin adviser to meet Trump officials in Saudi Arabia

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent his foreign minister and a senior Kremlin adviser to meet US officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss restoring relations and possible talks to end the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Monday.

US President Donald Trump said after a call with Putin on Wednesday that they would begin talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine immediately, and that they had also discussed the Middle East, energy, the U.S. dollar and Artificial Intelligence.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due in Saudi Arabia to meet Russian officials alongside Mike Waltz, Trump's national security adviser, and Steve Witkoff, White House Middle East envoy.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Sergei Lavrov, Putin's foreign minister since 2004, and Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin foreign policy advisor, were flying to Riyadh at the request of Putin.

"They are expected to hold a meeting with their American counterparts on Tuesday, which will focus primarily on restoring the entire complex of Russian-American relations," Peskov said.

"It will also be devoted to the preparation of possible negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement and the organisation of a meeting between the two presidents."

Peskov declined to comment on a Reuters report that Kirill Dmitriev, Russia's sovereign wealth fund chief, would also meet the U.S. delegation.

He also declined to comment when asked if Putin and Trump would meet face-to-face in Saudi Arabia later this month.