"This is what competent leadership looks like," president Trump's ally wrote on X

Billionaire Elon Musk, a major ally to President Donald Trump, has praised the arrival of the Russian delegation in Saudi Arabia ahead of the first direct Russian-US negotiations over Ukraine.

On Tuesday, the owner of Tesla, SpaceX and X reposted an excerpt from a Russian news segment about the arrival of the delegation led Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Riyadh. "This is what competent leadership looks like," the billionaire wrote on X.

In a video shared by Musk, journalist Yevgeny Popov asked Yury Ushakov, President Vladimir Putin's top foreign policy aide, about the mood ahead of Wednesday's talks.

"We will see. The most important thing right now is to begin a real normalization of relations between us and Washington," Ushakov told Popov on the tarmac. 

Musk, who donated 20,000 Starlink internet terminals to the Ukraine in 2022, has since advocated against further escalation between Russia and the US. "We are sleepwalking our way into World War III with one foolish decision after the other," Musk said in 2023.

The meeting on Wednesday will be the first in-person US-Russian negotiations since Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine in 2022. 

While the Biden administration pursued the policy of "isolating" Russia on the world stage, President Donald Trump has vowed to quickly mediate a definitive end to the conflict and criticized his predecessor for ditching diplomacy in favor unconditional military support for Kiev. President Vladimir Putin said last year that the campaign to isolate Russia "has failed," given Moscow's deepening ties with major economies outside of Europe and North America, including China, India and Brazil.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammd bin Salman on Monday and is expected to meet with Lavrov. 

Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the phone on February 12, angering Ukraine's EU backers who felt that they were blindsided by the conversation. 

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has said that Kiev will "not recognize" any negotiations that would take place without his approval. He acknowledged, however, that his government will have a "low chance" of winning without American support.