The United States and Ukraine have indicated that they will meet in Saudi Arabia next week to discuss a peace framework for ending the Russia-Ukraine war. This comes after Washington suspended military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv this week, just days after a public clash between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House.
Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, confirmed that he will meet with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia next week to lay the groundwork for a potential peace agreement. “We are now in discussions to coordinate a meeting with the Ukrainians in Riyadh or even potentially Jeddah. So the city is moving around a little bit, but it will be Saudi Arabia,” Witkoff told reporters outside the White House on Thursday. “I think the idea is to get down a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire as well.”
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy also confirmed that he will travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday with a team of officials, where they will meet with US officials to discuss a potential peace deal. “I am scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia to meet with the Crown Prince. After that, my team will stay in Saudi Arabia to work with American partners,” Zelenskyy said in an evening address on Thursday. “Ukraine is most interested in peace.”
This meeting will be the first high-level dialogue between US and Ukrainian officials since the February 28 meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump turned into a shouting match and ended with Zelenskyy being asked to leave the White House. Following the public fallout, Trump severed intelligence-sharing and military aid to Ukraine.
However, Trump recently revealed that he had received a letter from Zelenskyy, in which the Ukrainian leader expressed his readiness to come to the negotiating table. “I think what’s going to happen is Ukraine wants to make a deal, because I don’t think they have a choice,” Trump said on Thursday. “I also think that Russia wants to make a deal because in a certain different way – a different way that only I know, only I know – they have no choice either.”
Witkoff also noted that Zelenskyy had recently apologized for the incident at the White House and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to meet. He also raised doubts about whether the much-discussed minerals deal between Washington and Kyiv would be signed during the Saudi talks. “We’ll see if he follows through,” Witkoff added.
Analysts suggest that the proposed minerals deal is seen as an attempt by Kyiv to secure the support of the new US administration amid ongoing tensions over Washington’s outreach to Moscow to bring an end to the Ukraine war.
