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Saudi Arabia, UAE Seen as Possible Venues for Trump-Putin Summit, Two Russian Sources Say
US President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin shake hands as they meet in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are seen by Russia as possible venues for a summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, two Russian sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters.
Trump has said he will end the war in Ukraine as soon as possible and said he is ready to meet with Putin. Putin congratulated Trump on his election and stated he is ready to meet Trump to discuss Ukraine and energy.
Russian officials have repeatedly denied any direct contacts with the US about preparations for a phone call between Trump and Putin, which would precede an eventual meeting later this year.
However, senior Russian officials have visited both Saudi Arabia and the UAE in recent weeks, according to the Russian sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
One source said there was still some opposition to the idea in Russia as some diplomats and intelligence officials were pointing to the close military and security links that both the Kingdom and the UAE have with the United States.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE did not respond to requests for comment. The Kremlin declined comment. But both Trump and Putin have developed friendly relations with rulers of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Trump said on Sunday that his administration had “meetings and talks scheduled with various parties, including Ukraine and Russia.” When asked about those remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that contacts were “apparently planned.”
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was the first foreign head of state Trump called after taking office. He described the Crown Prince as “a fantastic guy” during his speech via video link to an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Putin, who visited Saudi Arabia and the UAE in 2023, said last September that he was grateful to Mohammed bin Salman for helping to organize the biggest U.-Russian prisoner swap since the Cold War.
Putin and Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MbS, have fostered a close personal relationship since 2015 when the prince visited Russia for the first time.
PUTIN AND MBS
The relationship has helped the leaders of the world’s two biggest oil exporters conclude and maintain the OPEC+ energy deal. Trump called on Saudi Arabia and OPEC to lower oil prices, a potential bargaining chip for Russia in the talks.
Both Mohammed bin Salman and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan have maintained neutrality throughout the Ukraine war, refraining from joining the West in criticizing and sanctioning Russia.
Both leaders have also maintained regular contacts with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited Russia several times during the war, saying during his last visit in October 2024 that he was ready to support efforts to find peace in Ukraine. The UAE also successfully mediated prisoner exchanges.
Neither country is a member of the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Putin, preventing his visits to a number of countries, including Brazil and South Africa.
At the current stage, the Russian sources dismissed Turkey, a NATO member that hosted failed peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in March 2022, as a possible venue.
Russian analyst Fyodor Lukyanov, the influential scientific director for the Valdai Discussion Club, whose members regularly meet Putin, said that Trump and Putin do not have much choice.
“Almost the entire West is involved on the side of Ukraine. Therefore, all the traditional venues where such things used to take place, like Helsinki, Geneva, and Vienna, are not suitable,” he was quoted by official TASS news agency as saying.
Lukyanov noted that while Saudi Arabia and the UAE play a very important role, both are very close US allies, which raises some questions from the Russian side.
“However, as a venue for negotiations, it is probably quite conceivable,” he added. Lukyanov declined to comment to Reuters on this story.
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Two Russian Regions Block Telegram App Over Security Fears
The Telegram logo is seen on a screen of a smartphone in this picture illustration taken April 13, 2018. Photo: REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin.
Authorities in two Russian regions have blocked the Telegram messenger because of concerns that the app could be used by enemies, a regional digital development minister was quoted as saying by the TASS state news agency on Saturday.
Dagestan and Chechnya are mainly Muslim regions in southern Russia where intelligence services have registered an increase in militant Islamist activity.
“It (Telegram) is often used by enemies, an example of which is the riots at the Makhachkala airport,” said Yuri Gamzatov, Dagestan’s digital development minister, adding that the decision to block the messenger had been made at the federal level.
Gamzatov was referring to an anti-Israel riot in Dagestan in October 2023, when hundreds of protesters stormed an airport to try to attack passengers arriving on a plane from the Jewish state. No passengers were injured, and authorities have prosecuted several people over the incident.
News of the plane’s arrival had spread on local Telegram channels, where users posted calls for antisemitic violence. Telegram condemned the attack and said it would block the channels.
Telegram did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the blocks in Russia.
Based in Dubai and founded by Russian-born Pavel Durov, the messenger has nearly 1 billion users and is used widely in Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet republics.
Moscow tried but failed to block Telegram in 2018 and has in the past demanded the platform hand over user data. Durov is under formal investigation in France as part of a probe into organized crime on the app.
Gamzatov, the minister in Dagestan, said Telegram could be unblocked in the future, but encouraged users to switch to other messengers in the meantime.
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Trump’s Scottish Golf Resort Vandalized with Pro-Palestine Graffiti
US President Donald Trump speaks at the White House, in Washington, DC, Feb. 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
US President Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Scotland has been daubed with pro-Palestinian graffiti, with a protest group claiming responsibility.
Local media on Saturday showed images of red paint scrawled across walls at the course with the slogans “Free Gaza” and “Free Palestine” as well as insults against Trump.
“Gaza is not for sale” was also painted on one of the greens and holes dug up on the course.
Palestine Action said it caused the damage, posting on social media platform X: “Whilst Trump attempts to treat Gaza as his property, he should know his own property is within reach.”
Last month, Trump enraged the Arab world by declaring unexpectedly that the United States would take over Gaza, resettle its over 2-million Palestinian population and develop it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Police Scotland said it was investigating.
“Around 4.40am on Saturday, 8 March, 2025, we received a report of damage to the golf course and a premises on Maidens Road, Turnberry,” a Police Scotland spokesperson said, adding that enquiries were ongoing.
Separately on Saturday, a man waving a Palestinian flag climbed the Big Ben tower at London’s Palace of Westminster.
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Columbia University Promises to Address Trump Administration’s Concerns After $400 Million in Funding Pulled
A student protester parades a Palestinian flag outside the entrance to Hamilton Hall on the campus of Columbia University, in New York, US, April 30, 2024. Photo: Mary Altaffer/Pool via REUTERS
Columbia University’s interim president said the school is working to address the “legitimate concerns” of US President Donald Trump’s administration after $400 million of federal government grants and contracts to the university were canceled over allegations of antisemitism on campus.
In an announcement on Friday, the government cited what it described as antisemitic harassment on and near the school’s New York City campus as the reason for pulling the funding. The university has repeatedly been at the forefront of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel student protest movement since the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent war in Gaza.
“I want to assure the entire Columbia community that we are committed to working with the federal government to address their legitimate concerns,” Katrina Armstrong, the university’s interim president, said in a late-night message to alumni on Friday. “To that end, Columbia can, and will, continue to take serious action toward combating antisemitism on our campus.”
The Trump administration said the canceled funding is only a portion of the $5 billion in government grants that has been committed to the school, but the school is bracing for a financial hit.
“There is no question that the cancellation of these funds will immediately impact research and other critical functions of the University, impacting students, faculty, staff, research, and patient care,” Armstrong said.
Federal funding accounted for about $1.3 billion of the university’s $6.6 billion in operating revenue in the 2024 fiscal year, according to a Columbia financial report.
Some Jewish students and staff have been among the pro-Palestinian protesters, and they say their criticism of Israel is being wrongly conflated with antisemitism. Minouche Shafik resigned last year as Columbia’s president after the university’s handling of the protests drew criticism from pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian sides alike.
The administration has declined to say what contracts and grants it has canceled, but the Education Department argues the demonstrations have been unlawful and deprive Jewish students of learning opportunities.
Civil rights groups say the immediate cuts are unconstitutional punishment for protected speech and likely to face legal challenges.
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