All eyes on Russia-Ukraine as Trump kicks off fourth week back in Oval Office
2025-02-17
Category: political

President Donald Trump and his administration are set to have another busy week as negotiations over ending the Russia-Ukraine war get underway.&nbsp; Trump is sending a handful of U.S. officials to Saudi Arabia this week to begin negotiating a potential peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, told Fox News on Sunday morning that he and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz will travel to Saudi Arabia on Sunday evening, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also set to travel to Saudi Arabia after his attendance of the&nbsp;international Munich Security Conference last week and meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Sunday.&nbsp; The meeting in Saudi Arabia comes after Trump announced last Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to "immediately" begin peace talks. "Next week, there's a meeting in Saudi Arabia," Trump told the media during a press conference on Thursday. "Not with myself nor President Putin, but with top officials. And Ukraine will be a part of it, too. And we're going to see if we can end that war. That was a horrible war. It's a vicious, bloody war. We want to end it." Russia and Ukraine have been at war since February 2022, when Russia first invaded its neighboring nation. Trump had said while on the 2024 campaign trail that he would end the war if re-elected, while claiming it would never have begun if he had been in the Oval Office at the time.&nbsp; TRUMP WILL DETERMINE IF PUTIN IS 'SERIOUS ABOUT NEGOTIATIONS' TO END UKRAINE WAR, RUBIO SAYS  Trump charged his team of U.S. officials to hold the peace meetings at his direction in Saudi Arabia, Witkoff said on Sunday to Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo.&nbsp; HOW SAUDI ARABIA'S CROWN PRINCE BECAME A CENTRAL PLAYER IN US-BROKERED PEACE TALKS BETWEEN RUSSIA AND UKRAINE "I am going tonight. I'll be traveling there with the national security advisor, and we'll be having meetings at the direction of the president. And hopefully we'll make some really good progress with regard to Russia, Ukraine," Witkoff said.&nbsp;  RUSSIA CLAIMS TRUMP, PUTIN TALK BROUGHT WORLD FROM ‘BRINK OF APOCALYPSE,’ EU WARNS OF ‘DIRTY TRICKS’ Stateside, Trump spent his weekend in Mar-a-Lago in Florida before heading to the Daytona 500, where fans erupted into cheers when Air Force One flew over Daytona International Speedway. Trump is the first&nbsp;sitting president to attend two Daytona 500 races at Daytona International Speedway, previously attending the 2020 race.  Trump’s schedule this week could also include meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who requested a visit with the president at the White House.&nbsp; Trump told the media on Friday that he did speak with the U.K. prime minister and that he accepted a request to meet at the White House.&nbsp; "We're going to have a friendly meeting, very good. We have a lot of good things going on. But he asked to come and see me, and I just accepted his asking," Trump said.&nbsp; NASCAR FANS CHEER AS TRUMP ARRIVES FOR DAYTONA 500 IN AIR FORCE ONE Trump said the meeting would be held "very soon," suggesting it would happen either this coming week or the following week. No details have been revealed as to what the upcoming meeting will focus on, though it comes on the heels of Trump announcing a "reciprocal tariff" plan on Thursday&nbsp;that will impose "fair and reciprocal" tariffs on all major U.S. trading partners.&nbsp; "On trade, I have decided for purposes of fairness that I will&nbsp;charge a reciprocal tariff, meaning whatever countries charge the United States of America, we will charge them, no more, no less. In other words, they charge us a tax or tariff, and we charge them the exact same tax or tariff, very simple," Trump said at the&nbsp;White House of the tariff plan.&nbsp;  On the energy policy front, Trump created the National Energy Dominance Council on Friday, which is expected to "unleash" energy independence.&nbsp; TOP TRUMP AGENCY RECOVERS EYE-POPPING SUM AFTER LAUNCHING DOGE TASK FORCE "We have more energy than any other country, and now we are unleashing it," Trump said Friday from the Oval Office when he signed an executive order establishing the energy council. "I call it liquid gold under our feet, and we’re going to utilize it." Kevin Hassett, the director of the&nbsp;National Economic Council under the second Trump administration, previewed that the council will quickly work to make the U.S. energy dominant, even with actions as early as this coming week.&nbsp;  "What I expect you to see, sir, is action as early as next week that is going to shock people about how good it is for Americans," Hassett told Trump from the Oval Office on Friday.&nbsp; CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Trump’s fourth week in office follows him already signing 65 executive orders, including 26 on his first day in office alone.