RIYADH — Saudi Arabia has commended the phone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 12, 2025, which included discussions on the potential for a high-level summit in Saudi Arabia. In an official statement on Friday, the Kingdom expressed its readiness to host the summit, reaffirming its continued efforts to mediate peace between Russia and Ukraine. Saudi Arabia has played a key diplomatic role since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman holding talks with both President Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in March 2022 to promote a political resolution. Over the past three years, the Kingdom has sustained these mediation efforts, hosting multiple meetings aimed at fostering dialogue and easing tensions. Saudi Arabia reiterated its commitment to supporting international diplomatic initiatives that contribute to regional and global stability. On Wednesday, Trump said he expects to see his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia for their first meeting since the Republican took office. Trump made the remarks following an almost 90-minute phone conversation with Putin in which the two leaders discussed ending Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. "We ultimately expect to meet. In fact, we expect that he'll come here, and I'll go there, and we're gonna meet also probably in Saudi Arabia the first time, we'll meet in Saudi Arabia, see if we can get something something done," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
