President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, working to restore his strained relationship with the US and safe a good deal to finish his nation’s struggle with Russia, was scheduled to meet on Monday with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia.
The assembly between Mr. Zelensky and Prince Mohammed, the de facto Saudi chief, who has sought to take a central function on the world’s diplomatic stage, comes forward of talks deliberate for Tuesday between Ukrainian and U.S. officers within the oil-rich Gulf state.
The crown prince, as soon as shunned internationally due to accusations of human rights abuses that he has denied, has positioned his nation as a intermediary in efforts to finish the Russia-Ukraine struggle. Final 12 months, Saudi Arabia performed a pivotal function in a posh U.S.-Russia prisoner swap, and President Trump has recommended it might be the location of a doable assembly between him and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
Final month, Mr. Zelensky postponed a visit to Saudi Arabia after it hosted a rare assembly of the U.S. secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and his Russian counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, through which the 2 sides sought to reset their relationship and mentioned the struggle in Ukraine, with out Mr. Zelensky.
However on Saturday, Mr. Zelensky stated on social media that he would go to Saudi Arabia, declaring that he was “decided to do all the pieces to finish this struggle with a simply and lasting peace.”
“Ukraine has been looking for peace from the very first second of this struggle,” he wrote of the full-scale battle, which started with Russia’s invasion three years in the past. “Reasonable proposals are on the desk. The hot button is to transfer rapidly and successfully.”
Mr. Zelensky added that he wouldn’t attend the talks with U.S. officers, however the Ukrainian delegation would come with the nation’s overseas and protection ministers, a prime army official and the president’s chief of workers.
Mr. Zelensky is below intense strain from the Trump administration to agree to a peace deal, and he has appeared to recalibrate his message after Mr. Trump and Vice President JD Vance angrily assailed him 10 days in the past within the Oval Workplace over what they described as an absence of gratitude for U.S. assist.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly stated that Mr. Zelensky doesn’t “have the playing cards” given Russia’s army power, and has all however demanded that Ukraine settle for diplomatic phrases set by the US for a decision of the struggle. Nonetheless, there are indicators that Ukraine’s place on the battlefield is enhancing: Ukrainian troops have in latest months stalled a Russian offensive and in some locations gained again small patches of land.
Steve Witkoff, the Trump administration’s particular envoy to the Center East, has stated that Mr. Zelensky’s deferential posture after the blowup within the White Home has improved Ukraine’s standing with American officers. Nonetheless, the U.S. has paused army assist for Ukraine.
Mr. Zelensky wrote on Saturday that he was “absolutely dedicated to constructive dialogue” and that he hoped to “talk about and agree on the mandatory selections and steps” throughout his go to to Saudi Arabia. Mr. Rubio can be within the seaside Saudi metropolis of Jeddah for talks with Ukrainian officers from Monday by Wednesday, in accordance to the U.S. State Division, and was anticipated to meet with Prince Mohammed after arriving on Monday night.
Mr. Trump’s place on Russia and Ukraine has generally been laborious to pin down. On Friday, he stated on social media that he was contemplating vital sanctions on Russia to assist drive a peace deal on Ukraine. He demanded that the 2 international locations “get to the desk proper now, earlier than it’s too late.”
Hours later, he instructed reporters on the White Home that he felt talks with Russia have been going properly and that he was “discovering it tougher, frankly, to cope with Ukraine.”
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