The sides will discuss a “peace framework” aimed at ending the conflict with Russia
American and Ukrainian negotiators are planning a meeting in Saudi Arabia, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff told journalists on Thursday.
His statement comes after a public falling-out between Trump and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, whom the US president accused of not wanting to make peace with Russia.
“We are now in discussions to coordinate a meeting with the Ukrainians in Riyadh or potentially in Jeddah,” Witkoff said. “The idea is to get a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire as well.”
In a post on X, Zelensky said that he would meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday, after which “my team will stay in Saudi Arabia to work with our American partners.”
According to Axios, the talks could take place on Wednesday and involve Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, as well as Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrey Yermak.
During a heated exchange in the Oval Office last week, Trump accused Zelensky of “gambling with World War Three” and argued that he did not “have the cards” when trying to steer the conversation. He described Zelensky’s attitude as “disrespectful” and has since ordered a pause in military aid and intelligence sharing.
Zelensky later said that the argument was “regrettable” and proposed to negotiate a limited truce and a prisoner exchange with Russia. “Then we want to move very fast through all next stages and to work with the US to agree [on] a strong final deal,” he wrote on X on Tuesday.
Trump has abandoned the previous administration’s strategy of “isolating” Russia in favor of opening direct talk with Moscow. Russian and American negotiators met for the first time in three years in Riyadh on February 18. Zelensky cancelled his own trip to the Gulf kingdom the same month, citing the desire to avoid “coincidences” with the talks that took place without his blessing.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday that Moscow was “analyzing” the news surrounding the upcoming US-Ukrainian meeting. Russia has earlier hailed the resumption of bilateral contacts with the US as a positive step in normalizing relations.
Russia has blamed Kiev for the failure of peace talks in 2022 and accused Ukraine of making unrealistic demands. Moscow has insisted that Ukraine must drop its aspirations to join NATO and become a neutral state, as well as recognize Crimea and four other former Ukrainian regions as part of Russia.
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