U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Wednesday with the leader of the United Arab Emirates, wrapping up an overseas trip that saw the highest-level outreach between the United States and Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Marco Rubio’s visit to Riyadh, his first as secretary of state, came amid uncertainty about the future of Gaza and Ukraine and criticism of unilateral U.S. moves over the wars in both places.

Rubio is visiting the Middle East after President Donald Trump infuriated the Arab world with a proposal for the Palestinian residents of the war-torn strip to be resettled in other Arab nations and for the U.S. to lead reconstruction of the enclave.

Secretary of State Macro Rubio said first step in ending the war in Ukraine is reestablishing diplomacy with Russia by reopening embassies in Moscow and Washington, as EU watches with concern.

Saudi Arabia's crown prince may not be inside the room for the first high-level talks between Russia and the United States over Moscow's war on Ukraine on Tuesday, but Mohammed bin Salman still wins the day for hosting the gathering that could be a game changer in the bloody conflict.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia to discuss a potential peace deal in the war in Ukraine. President Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was not involved in the talks and that Kyiv would not accept any decisions made by the U.

Rubio says ending Russia's war in Ukraine will require concessions from all sides and that Europe will be part of talks.