Top Ukrainian and U.S. officials are today set to sit down in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia in an effort to get Russia’s war against Ukraine stopped.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would not be there, though he was in the Gulf state yesterday to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reports NAN.
Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, Defence Minister, Rustem Umerov, Presidential Office Chief, Andrii Yermak and his deputy Pavlo Pallisa will represent Ukraine, Zelensky said.
On the U.S. side, Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz and special envoy Steve Witkoff, who have been working on the Gaza-Israel negotiations, are expected to attend.
The Ukrainians recently supported an initiative by French President Emmanuel Macron in favour of a partial ceasefire on airstrikes and attacks from the sea, which Russia rejected last week.
Kiev also wanted an exchange of all prisoners with Russia as a first step.
Washington, on the other hand, wanted a quick and comprehensive ceasefire followed by elections in Kiev.
Ukraine had been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for more than three years with western support.
Following a fractious meeting at the Oval Office on Feb. 28, in which U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance castigated Zelensky and called him ungrateful, Washington had paused arms deliveries to Ukraine and access to key intelligence information.
Trump has been keen to get a minerals’ deal signed with Zelensky, but the Ukrainian president has demanded security guarantees.
