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1. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday ahead of talks between top U.S. officials and Russian envoys on how to end the war in Ukraine, discussions that signal the Trump administration is eager to push for an agreement. Talks with U.S. officials would be “devoted primarily to restoring the entire complex of Russian-American relations,” the Kremlin said. “We’re moving along,” President Trump told reporters in Florida on Sunday of the coming talks. “We’re trying to get peace with Russia, Ukraine, and we’re working very hard on it.” Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, confirmed that he was traveling Sunday with national security adviser Mike Waltz to Saudi Arabia. Rubio, who was in Jerusalem over the weekend, is also expected to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday for discussions on the Middle East. The trip comes as Arab leaders have pushed back against Trump’s plan to move Palestinians out of Gaza, and the prospects for extending the cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas remain in the balance. (Source: wsj.com)
2. As the U.S. and Russia begin negotiations this coming week about the fate of Ukraine and European security, the shared view in Washington and in Moscow these days is open contempt for the leaders of Europe. What happens next will determine whether the alliance of European democracies, inside and outside the European Union, will remain a significant player on the increasingly brutal international stage, where the niceties of the post-World War II international order no longer apply. “Denial is no longer possible. The message is clear: It’s time to take our responsibilities, to safeguard our own security,” said France’s European affairs minister, Benjamin Haddad. “The first test would be to refuse a capitulation in Ukraine.” (Source: wsj.com)
3. Europe’s most powerful leaders are gathering in Paris today for crisis talks on Ukraine and the future of European defense, sparked by Donald Trump’s decision to open peace talks with Russia. Those talks will formally begin in Saudi Arabia this week when Trump’s top diplomat Marco Rubio sits down with Russia’s Sergei Lavrov. The Rubio-Lavrov meeting aims to lay the groundwork for the US president to meet Vladimir Putin, less than a week after Trump shocked European capitals by agreeing with his Russian counterpart to start peace talks. Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump said he thought a meeting with Putin in Saudi Arabia to discuss a settlement in Ukraine could happen “very soon” as the US president expressed confidence that his Russian counterpart wanted to end the conflict. (Source: ft.com)
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