Talks Between the US and Ukraine Will Take Place in Saudi Arabia Following a Tense White House Meeting

Officials from the US and Ukraine will meet in Saudi Arabia after a heated White House debate about peace negotiations and military assistance.

President Donald Trump has pushed for an early conclusion to Russia’s assault on Ukraine, and Ukrainian and US officials will meet in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss ways to mend strained relations and determine whether Kyiv is willing to make compromises.

Washington’s position on the crisis has drastically changed since Trump’s election in January, when it was Ukraine’s strongest friend. By halting military aid to Kyiv, cutting off intelligence sharing with Ukraine, and interacting directly with Moscow, the Trump administration has changed the course of the conflict that Russia intensified in 2022.

A heated altercation between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House last month widened the gap between the two countries even more. Trump presented the minerals agreement as essential to maintaining US backing and as restitution for the $65 billion in military aid the US has given Ukraine since Russia’s incursion three years ago, but the repercussions has also delayed it.

Zelensky has attempted to show Kyiv’s commitment to resolving the war under tremendous US pressure, even though he was unable to obtain US security guarantees in the minerals deal—conditions Ukraine believes are necessary for any peace settlement.

“Unless both sides make concessions, you’re not going to get a ceasefire and an end to this war,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Monday as he traveled to Jeddah. “We have to understand the Ukrainian position and get a general idea of what concessions they’d be willing to make.”

Rubio, accompanied by US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, is leading the U.S. delegation in negotiations with top Ukrainian officials led by Zelensky’s top aide Andriy Yermak. Zelensky, who met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday, isn’t going to the talks, though.

Despite Rubio’s restrained remarks, Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, voiced hope that the US-Ukraine minerals deal might still be completed. After speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin last month, Witkoff is scheduled to return to Moscow for another meeting with the Kremlin leader, according to a person briefed on his plans.

Ukraine’s European supporters contend that Kyiv should not rush into peace negotiations with an aggressor and should instead negotiate from a position of strength. Putin does not want peace, Zelensky has said on numerous occasions, and he has warned that if Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not greeted with strong opposition, it may target other European countries.

While he refrained to list specific compromises, Rubio hinted that Kyiv would find it difficult to regain all of its lost territory.

It will be extremely impossible for Ukraine to drive the Russians back to their 2014 position in any realistic amount of time, Rubio stated. “The Russians cannot conquer all of Ukraine.”

Including Crimea, which it invaded in 2014, Russia now controls almost one-fifth of Ukraine, and Russian forces are still advancing in the Donetsk region in the east.

The meeting Tuesday comes after a rare meeting in February in Riyadh between US and Russian officials, where the focus was on reestablishing diplomatic relations following years of tense relations, particularly under Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden.