Officials from the United States and Ukraine are scheduled to meet this week in Saudi Arabia for the first high-level talks on ending the war with Russia since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s disastrous Oval Office sit-down with President Trump last month.
Mr. Zelenskyy said on social media that he will participate in the meeting, which starts Tuesday, with the U.S. representatives. He is expected to arrive Monday to meet with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman and later with the U. S. officials.
The Ukrainian leader said his country is “fully committed” to having constructive talks with President Trump, who will stay in the U.S. but is expected to keep tabs on the events in Saudi Arabia.
Talks are scheduled to take place in the Red Sea city of Jeddah as Mr. Trump pushes to secure a cease-fire and a “framework” for a peace agreement in the conflict that has raged since February 2022.
U.S. officials participating in Tuesday’s meeting include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. For Ukraine, the meeting is expected to include Foreign Affairs Minister Andrii Sybiha, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Andriy Yermak, who heads Mr. Zelenskyy’s presidential office.
The talks will focus on developing a framework for a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow. Mr. Zelenskyy said last week that the first stages of a peace plan could include the release of prisoners; a ban on missiles, long-range drones and the bombing of energy and other civilian infrastructure; and a “truce in the sea.”
The two sides will also discuss a deal on critical minerals, which will allow the U.S. to invest in Ukraine’s rare earth minerals. A minerals deal was expected to be signed during Mr. Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House, but the agreement went unsigned after the Oval Office blow-up between the two leaders.
Since the dust-up, Mr. Zelenskyy has reversed course and declared that Ukraine is ready to sign the minerals agreement “in any time and any convenient format.”
“We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively,” he said.
Mr. Trump, meanwhile, has been more circumspect in recent days about whether the mineral deal will come together.
“They will sign the minerals deal, but I want them to want peace. They haven’t shown it to the extent they should,” he said.
The meeting comes as Mr. Trump announced Sunday that the U.S. had “just about” ended a suspension of intelligence sharing with Ukraine, saying he expects good results from the talks in Saudi Arabia.
When asked by reporters Sunday night if he’d consider ending the suspension, Mr. Trump responded, “We just about have. We just about have.”
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said last week that the U.S. had halted intelligence sharing with Ukraine to pressure Mr. Zelenskyy to cooperate with the U.S. to reach a peace deal with Russia.
The intelligence-sharing suspension followed a U.S. halt of military aid to Ukraine.
