JEDDAH, March 11 — President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ahead of talks between Ukrainian and US officials that Washington hopes will deliver substantial progress towards ending Russia's war with Ukraine.
During the meeting in Jeddah, the crown prince underscored the kingdom's support for international efforts to resolve Ukraine's crisis and achieving peace, the Saudi state news agency SPA reported early today.
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 Zelenskiy and US President Donald Trump descended into acrimony last month.
Saudi Arabia has played a mediating role since Russia's invasion, including brokering prisoner exchanges and hosting last month's talks between Moscow and Washington.
Talks today between US and Ukrainian officials are the first official session since Zelenskiy'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 Zelenskiy 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, Zelenskiy 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.
Zelenskiy has said he will not attend today’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," Zelenskiy 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.
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.
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 1,200 aerial guided bombs, nearly 870 attack drones and more than 80 missiles at Ukraine in the past week alone, Zelenskiy has said.
— Reuters
