By Pesha Magid and Daphne Psaledakis, Reuters
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky is welcomed by Deputy Governor of Makkah Region Prince Saud bin Mishal bin Abdulaziz on his arrival in Jeddah on 10 March 2025. Photo: AFP / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service
President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Saudi Arabia to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a day before talks between Ukrainian and US officials that Washington hopes will deliver substantial progress towards ending Ukraine's war with Russia.
The United States, once Ukraine's main ally, has upended its policy on the conflict in its stated pursuit of a rapid end to the fighting, engaging directly with Moscow while stopping military assistance and intelligence sharing for Ukraine, which Russian troops invaded at scale in 2022.
Grappling with the new approach in the White House, Ukraine has pushed for "pragmatic" relations after a disastrous Oval Office encounter between Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump descended into acrimony last month.
Zelensky is expected later on Monday (local time) to meet the Saudi crown prince, whose country has played a mediating role since Russia's invasion, including brokering prisoner exchanges and hosting last month's talks between Moscow and Washington.
Talks on Tuesday (local time) between US and Ukrainian officials are the first official session since Zelensky's abortive White House meeting, and Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said he had high hopes.
"I think that we're going over there with an expectation that we're going to make substantial progress," he said in an interview with Fox News.
Asked if he thought Zelensky would return to the US to sign a minerals deal this week, Witkoff said: "I am really hopeful. All the signs are very, very positive."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio struck a more cautious note, saying there were still details to be worked out on the minerals deal. He added that the talks could be a success without an accord being signed and stressed the need to gauge Kyiv's readiness to make concessions to reach peace.
Under huge pressure from Trump, Zelensky has been at pains to show that Kyiv is committed to ending the war soon, despite failing to win the US security guarantees that Kyiv sees as vital for any peace deal.
Zelensky has said he will not attend Tuesday's talks with US officials, and the Ukrainian delegation will include his chief of staff, his foreign and defence ministers and a top military official in the presidential administration.
"On our side, we are fully committed to constructive dialogue, and we hope to discuss and agree on the necessary decisions and steps," Zelensky said in a post on X.
"Realistic proposals are on the table. The key is to move quickly and effectively."
US officials said they were planning to use the meeting in part to determine whether Kyiv is willing to make material concessions to Russia to end the war.
One US official said: "We want to see if the Ukrainians are interested not just in peace, but in a realistic peace."
Trump said on Sunday he expected good results out of the upcoming talks, adding that Washington had "just about" ended a suspension of intelligence sharing with Kyiv.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Trump on Monday he hoped the talks in Saudi Arabia would have a positive outcome and enable Washington to end its pause of U.S. aid and intelligence to Ukraine, his spokesperson said.
Rubio said Ukraine was already receiving all US defensive intelligence. "All the notion of the pause in aid broadly is something I hope we can resolve ... I think what happens tomorrow will be key to that," he said.
Framework for an agreement
Witkoff, who has been arranging the talks, has said the idea is to "get down a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire as well".
Zelensky has called for a truce in the air and at sea, as well as a prisoner exchange, in what he says could be a test of Russia's commitment to ending the war.
Moscow has rejected the idea of a temporary truce, which has also been proposed by Britain and France, saying it was a bid to buy time for Kyiv and prevent its military collapse.
Zelensky has said Kyiv is ready to sign the minerals deal with the U.S., which would create a joint fund from the sale of Ukrainian minerals. Washington says it is crucial to secure continued US backing.
With US support in question, Zelensky has been urging his European allies to ramp up their support as Kyiv's battlefield position deteriorates and it faces mounting pressure to retreat from Russia's Kursk region.
Ukrainian troops that stormed into the Kursk region last summer are nearly surrounded by Russian forces, open source maps show.
However, Kyiv's top general, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on Monday (local time) his troops in the Kursk region were not at risk of encirclement, despite a recent counteroffensive by Russian forces that has included North Korean troops.
Russia holds around a fifth of Ukraine's territory, including Crimea which it annexed in 2014, and its troops are also pressing in the eastern Donetsk region, having ramped up drone and missile strikes on cities and towns far from the front.
Russia has launched 1200 aerial guided bombs, nearly 870 attack drones and more than 80 missiles at Ukraine in the past week alone, Zelensky has said.
- Reuters
