Zelensky in Saudi Arabia, hope for Ukraine peace talks
President Volodymyr Zelensky has met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a day before talks between Ukrainian and US officials aimed at ending Russia’s war with Ukraine.
The meeting took place in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah, a day before talks between Ukrainian and US officials that Washington hopes will deliver substantial progress towards ending the conflict.
The Saudi crown prince underscored the kingdom’s support for all international efforts aimed at resolving Ukraine’s crisis and achieving peace, the Saudi state news SPA reported on Tuesday (local time).
The US, 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 in 2022.
Ukraine has pushed for “pragmatic” relations after last month’s disastrous Oval Office encounter between Zelensky and US President Donald Trump.
Talks on Tuesday between US and Ukrainian officials are the first official session since Zelensky’s abortive White House meeting. 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 told Fox News.
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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”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio struck a more cautious note, saying details were still to be worked out on the minerals deal.
He said 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. 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 planned partly to use the meeting to determine whether Kyiv was willing to make material concessions to Russia to end the war.
“We want to see if the Ukrainians are interested not just in peace, but in a realistic peace,” one US official said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Trump on Monday he hoped the talks would enable Washington to end its pause of US aid and intelligence to Ukraine.
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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.
On the eve of the talks, Russia launched air strikes targeting Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine, with the Ukrainian air force saying the country was under a threat of a missile attack.
Witkoff, who has arranged 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. Russia said 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 US, which would create a joint fund from the sale of Ukrainian minerals. Washington says it is crucial to secure continued US backing.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops who 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 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.
It comes as the Russian Embassy said there will be “grave consequences” if Australia joins the “coalition of the willing“.
In a statement supplied to the Sydney Morning Herald and later published to social media, the embassy, located in Canberra, said western boots on the ground in Ukraine is “unacceptable”.
“Russia has repeatedly made it clear that foreign military presence in Ukraine is totally unacceptable,” the statement said.
“The idea of deploying Western military contingents in Ukraine under the guise of peacekeepers is meant to undermine peace efforts.”
The statement went on to say the above commentary should not be perceived as a threat, but instead a warning.
