Trump: Saudi Arabia Will Likely Host First Meeting with Putin
Although his diplomacy has not been widely recognized, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been active over the past three years in mediating issues arising from the Russia-Ukraine war.
WASHINGTON DC, United States (Kurdistan 24) U.S. President Donald Trump, addressing reporters on Wednesday, revealed that he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin. They would meet soon, Trump said, and their first meeting would likely take place in Saudi Arabia.
Trump “named what may have seemed like an unlikely venue for the talks, as the two will be discussing an end to the nearly three-year war in Ukraine,” The New York Times remarked.
As Trump said, “We expect that [Putin] will come here, and I’ll go there, and we’re going to meet, also, probably in Saudi Arabia the first time,” adding,“We’ll meet in Saudi Arabia, see if we can get something done.”
Trump’s statement was welcomed by Hoshyar Zebari, a senior figure in the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), who, before Saddam Hussein’s overthrow, long worked in the Iraqi opposition. He then served as Iraq’s first post-Saddam Foreign Minister, before becoming Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq.
As Zebari, writing in Arabic, posted to X, “President Trump's decision to meet Russian President Putin in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to seek a solution for the Russian-Ukrainian international war is a testament to the growing role of the Kingdom in addressing international and regional crises.”
قرار الرئيس الأمريكي ترامب ل لقاء الرئيس الروسي پوتين في الرياض - المملكة العربية السعودية للبحث عن حل للحرب الروسية- الاوكرانية الدولية هو امتياز لتنامي دور المملكة لمعالجة الأزمات الدولية والإقليمية، و الان فان الريادة و القيادة للمملكة هو ألمحك و المتوقع منها.
— Hoshyar Zebari (@HoshyarZebari) February 13, 2025
Saudi Mediation Between Russia and Ukraine/U.S.
As the New York Times explained, “Saudi Arabia has increasingly played the role of mediator in the Russia-Ukraine war, along with its neighbor, the United Arab Emirates.”
Although his diplomacy was not widely recognized, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de facto ruler, has been active over the past three years in mediating issues arising from the Russia-Ukraine war.
Most recently, on Wednesday, Steve Witkoff, U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, praised Crown Prince Mohammed as having been “instrumental” in securing the release of an American citizen, Marc Fogel, who had spent three-and-a-half years in a Russian prison, jailed for having brought medical marijuana into the country.
Yet already in September 2022, as the Times explained, Mohammed helped secure the release of ten prisoners of war as part of an exchange between Russia and Ukraine.
In May 2023, Mohammed invited Volodymyr Zelensky to speak to a gathering of Arab leaders in Jeddah, where the Ukrainian president urged them to support his country in its conflict with Russia.
And in August 2024, as the Times added, “Saudi Arabia played an influential role in negotiating the biggest U.S.-Russian prisoner swap since the Cold War,” Subsequently Putin “personally thanked” the Crown Prince for his efforts.
Bilateral Ties: Trump and Mohammed
In addition to the role that Crown Prince Mohammed has played in mediating issues related to the war in Ukraine, other issues bind President Trump and the Saudi leader.
Above all, Trump is seeking economic support from Saudi Arabia as part of his effort to revive the U.S. economy. Thus, already on January 22, just two days after Trump’s second term began, Trump and Mohammed spoke by telephone.
Days before, Trump had suggested that he might be willing to visit Saudi Arabia in his first trip abroad in exchange for significant investments.
In the conversation that followed, “The Crown Prince affirmed the Kingdom’s intention to broaden its investments and trade with the United States over the next four years, in the amount of $500 billion, and potentially beyond that,” the Saudi Press Agency said.
The two leaders also discussed how their countries could cooperate “to promote peace, security, and stability in the Middle East,” it said.
And that, evidently, is a significant part of the background to Trump’s suggestion that he and Putin could meet in Saudi Arabia—which, if in fact it happens, would indeed mark Trump’s first trip abroad–just as he promised.
