It has been clear for some time that Marco Rubio, who continued from the security conference in Munich to Israel on Saturday, will travel further to Saudi Arabia for talks with Russia.
It is now clear that Rubio will be accompanied by national security adviser Mike Waltz and Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, who has been given an increasingly important role also linked to the Ukraine war, according to sources for several American media outlets.
Earlier in the week, President Trump announced that negotiations on the Ukraine war would begin "immediately" and also indicated that direct talks between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia could become a reality in the "not too distant future".
The message from American officials has been that it involves meetings with Russian and Ukrainian representatives. However, a Ukrainian government representative tells Politico that Kyiv has not been informed and has no plans to send a delegation.
European leaders have not been invited.
