Zelenskiy heads to Saudi Arabia ahead of crunch US talks

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Zelenskiy is expected to meet Mohammed bin Salman, whose Saudi Arabia has played various mediating roles since Russia’s 2022 invasion, including brokering prisoner exchanges and hosting talks between Russia and the United States last month. — Reuters file pic

KYIV, March 10 — President Volodymyr Zelenskiy travels to Saudi Arabia to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday, ahead of talks between Ukrainian and US officials on ending the war with Russia at an increasingly precarious moment for Kyiv.

The United States, once Ukraine’s main ally, has upended its wartime policies in its stated pursuit of a rapid end to the fighting, engaging directly with Moscow while cutting off military assistance and intelligence sharing for Kyiv.

Zelenskiy is expected to meet Mohammed bin Salman, whose Saudi Arabia has played various mediating roles since Russia’s 2022 invasion, including brokering prisoner exchanges and hosting talks between Russia and the United States last month.

Tomorrow’s talks between US and Ukrainian officials - the first official meeting since a disastrous Oval Office encounter between Zelenskiy and US President Donald Trump - are expected to focus on a bilateral minerals deal and how to end the war.

Under huge pressure from Trump, who wants the war ended at lightning speed, Zelenskiy has been at pains to show they are on the same page, despite failing to win promises of US security guarantees that Kyiv sees as vital for any peace deal.

Zelenskiy has said he will not attend the talks with US officials and that the Ukrainian delegation will include his chief of staff, his foreign and defence ministers and a top military official in the presidential administration.

“On our side, we are fully committed to constructive dialogue, and we hope to discuss and agree on the necessary decisions and steps,” Zelenskiy said in a post on X.

“Realistic proposals are on the table. The key is to move quickly and effectively.”

Framework for an agreement

Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff, who has been arranging the talks, has said the idea was to “get down a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire as well”.

Zelenskiy has called for a truce in the air and at sea, as well as a prisoner exchange, in what he says could be a test of Russia’s commitment to ending the war.

Moscow has rejected the idea of a temporary truce, which has also been proposed by Britain and France, saying it was a bid to buy time for Kyiv and prevent its military collapse.

The Ukrainian leader has also said Kyiv was ready to sign the minerals deal with the US that would create a joint fund from the sale of Ukrainian minerals, and which Washington says is crucial to secure continued US backing.

With US support in question, Zelenskiy has been urging his European allies to ramp up their support as Kyiv’s battlefield position deteriorates and it faces mounting pressure to retreat from Russia’s Kursk region.

Ukrainian troops that stormed into the Kursk region last summer are nearly surrounded by Russian forces, open source maps show.

Russia holds around a fifth of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea which it annexed in 2014, and its troops are also pressing in the eastern Donetsk region, having ramped up drone and missile strikes on cities and towns far from the front.

Russia has launched 1,200 aerial guided bombs, nearly 870 attack drones and more than 80 missiles at Ukraine in the past week alone, Zelenskiy has said. — Reuters