Why Donald Trump Chose Saudi Arabia As Venue For Ukraine Talks

The top diplomats of the United States and Russia are making their way over to Saudi Arabia to hold key talks on the war in Ukraine. Trump administration's move to choose Riyadh as the venue for hosting breakthrough US-Russia talks underscores the Kingdom's return to the diplomatic fold from the near pariah state it went under former President Joe Biden's administration.

This will be the first high-level meeting between Washington and Moscow since US President Donald Trump took office, during which top US and Russian diplomats will try to resettle their countries' fractured relations and make a tentative start on trying to end the Ukraine war. They will also prepare for a summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

Both sides played down the chances of talks resulting in a breakthrough. Still, the very fact the talks were taking place has triggered concern in Ukraine and Europe following the United States' recent overtures towards the Kremlin.

Saudi's Rise From Shadows

The shadow that was cast over Saudi and its de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, after the murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 in Turkey seems to be lifting, although there are still concerns over the country's human rights record. 

A historic ally of the United States, Saudi Arabia has avoided choosing sides in the Ukraine war. The world's leading exporter of crude oil maintains close relations with Russia on energy policy while promising hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

The Kingdom has been enhancing its role diplomatically and during the Biden era, it pivoted away from reliance on the US as its key international ally by striking closer ties with America's rivals like Russia and China. The Saudis have made it clear that they would follow what they perceive as their interests first and foremost, a move more conducive to the transactional nature of Mr Trump's foreign policy.

Mr Trump's first foreign visit in his first term was to Saudi Arabia, and the Kingdom has welcomed his return to the White House. 

One of the possible reasons for Mr Trump to keep Riyadh close could be a smooth culmination of the Abraham Accords that he initiated in his first term. However, war in Gaza has subsequently got in the way of the deal and may well raise the price that Saudi Arabia will demand for a peace agreement with Israel. 

'Big Coup For Saudi'

"It's a big coup for Saudi. The two superpowers come to Riyadh to settle their disagreements," said Ali Shihabi, an advisor to the Saudi government. 

"It's quite prestigious and affirms the soft power of the kingdom," he told AFP.

Riyadh will then play host to an Arab summit on Friday to discuss the response to Trump's proposal for a US takeover of Gaza and the forced displacement of its more than two million people.

Leaders of the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will attend, as will those of Egypt and Jordan, which Trump has floated as possible destinations for the Palestinians.

Saudi Arabia's entry into the spotlight comes after the oil-rich power watched its smaller neighbour Qatar mediate a hard-won yet fragile truce in the Israel-Hamas war.

"Saudi Arabia has been able to take advantage of the contradictions and the confrontation between the West and Russia in the Ukrainian crisis, particularly on the oil issue, without losing any of its allies, whether Western or Russian," said Rabha Seif Allam of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo.

"This has helped to bring it out of the isolation imposed on it after the Khashoggi affair," she told AFP.

Russia-US Talks

The meeting of US and Russian officials comes after three years of an almost total freeze in relations between the two countries over the war in Ukraine. European leaders met in Paris on Monday to discuss their strategy, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected in Turkey on Tuesday.

In Riyadh, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff met with Mohammed bin Salman on Monday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, Putin's diplomatic adviser, were dispatched to the Saudi capital to meet with their American counterparts. 

The meeting between the two teams "is immensely significant from a Saudi perspective as it raises its stature in world diplomacy and as a responsible global actor ready to contribute towards global peace," said Umer Karim, an expert on Saudi foreign policy. 

"This meeting indicates that Saudi leadership and Mohammed bin Salman in particular has developed a cordial close and very personal relationship with both President Trump and Putin," he said.

The University of Birmingham academic said the Saudi crown prince had much to gain from the "diplomatic activity" in Riyadh and was "becoming a crucial actor" on the world stage.