There is no “military solution” to the Ukrainian conflict. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the aim was to repair a severely damaged relationship that was caught up in Kiev without Washington's support ahead of the high-stakes meeting in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian delegation, led by Andriy Yermak, the Chief of Staff of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meets Rubio and other senior White House officials about what is considered neutral ground in the Saudi city of Jeddah.
Ukraine's position in the talks is “completely constructive,” its president, Zelenskyy, said Monday, adding that he wanted practical results from negotiations to end the Russian war in his country.
On his way to Jeddah, Rubio emphasized the need to measure Kiev's ready to make concessions to reach peace.
He told reporters on the plane:
“I think both sides need to understand that there is no military solution to this situation.
“The Russians cannot conquer everything in Ukraine. Obviously, it will be very difficult for Ukraine in a reasonable period for the Russians to come back all the way to where it was 2014.”
This will be the first official meeting of two governments since the debate of the disastrous oval office between Zelensky and Donald Trump, after which US leaders will block important military aid and intelligence news sharing.
The two presidents will not take part in the discussions, but Zelensky was in Jeddah on Monday to meet Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
During a meeting in Jeddah, the crown prince emphasized the kingdom's support for international efforts to resolve the Ukraine crisis and achieve peace, the Saudi state news agency SPA reported early on Tuesday.
Zelenskyy also sent his foreign and defense ministers to Jeddah for a speech. On Sunday, he posted: “We are fully engaged in constructive dialogue and would like to discuss and agree to the necessary decisions and actions.
“There are realistic suggestions on the table. The key is to move quickly and effectively.”
Encouraged after Ukraine lost support from its biggest supporters, the Russian army launched a barrage of ballistic missile attacks as it seized the moment and attempted to surround the thousands of Ukrainian troops who had maintained a seven-month foothold in the region of Kursk, Russia.
On the eve of talks, Russia launched airstrikes targeting Kiev and other parts of Ukraine, with the Ukrainian Air Force saying the country is under threat from missile attacks.
The White House combined Trump's Ukrainian policy with its intention to achieve lasting “peace,” but the president has primarily focused on putting pressure on Zelensky to hand over his country's mineral wealth to the United States.
After the oval office crisis, Zelensky tried to develop a relationship with American leaders. The Ukrainian president says he is willing to sign a mineral contract, despite his unlikely chance of obtaining a US security assurance that he sees Kyiv as essential to prevent future Russian attacks.
With our doubts, Zelensky sought to strengthen support in Europe. Still, he is under pressure to save relations with Washington, Ukraine's biggest supporter since the 2022 Russian invasion.
A spokesman for British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer said he spoke with Trump on Monday, saying he “expressed hopes for a positive outcome.” [Saudi] “A speech to help the US support and share intelligence can resume.”
The priorities were also spoken over the weekend, saying that “they continued to commit to lasting peace.”
Trump's aide Steve Witkoff said Washington is hoping for great progress in Jeddah. Asked on Fox News if he thinks Zelenskyy can sign a mineral trade this week, Witkoff said: All the signs are very, very positive. Witkoff added that intelligence sharing will be discussed at the meeting.
However, U.S. Secretary of State Rubio told reporters on his way to Jeddah that there are more details to be resolved in the mineral trade.
NBC News reported on Sunday that Trump needs more than a mineral trade to resume delivering military aid and update its Intelligence news sharing with Ukraine. The outlet reported that Trump hopes Ukraine will agree to key concessions to US support, including its willingness to recognize territory as part of its peace talks and to recognize territory as part of its election move.
NBC and other US media have also reported that Trump may want to resign as part of the process. That stance has not been publicly confirmed by the White House.
But European allies have reassured that the US is approaching resuming military aid and sharing intelligence news, and Trump told Air Force reporters that the US is “just” ready to resume aid. “We want to do everything we can to be serious about getting something done,” he said.
The Ukrainian side is expected to propose a peace plan that will feature halting drone and missile strikes and halting military operations in the Black Sea. Zelenskyy says the proposal will be a test of Russia's commitment to end the war. But so far, Vladimir Putin has not expressed interest in the ceasefire.
Trump said he would consider ending the suspension of intelligence news sharing between Kiev and the Ukrainian military.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said its forces had recaptured three more settlements in the Kursk region, and former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev claimed that Kyiv's troops were nearly surrounded. “The lid of the smoking cauldron is almost closed. The attack continues,” he posted on Telegram.
It was reported that Russian troops are being closed to the town of Suda, the Russian town owned by Ukraine. On Sunday, Ukrainian general staff said it had repelled it. An extraordinary attack By Russian sabotage and assault groups through regional gas pipelines. About 100 Russian soldiers spent four days running through a nine-mile long (15km) pipeline leading to the outskirts of Sudzha.
Within Ukraine, the country's border guards said Russian forces were trying to create an aggressive combat zone in the northeastern part of Smie from Kursk.
However, Kyiv's top general refused to report that Ukrainian forces fighting in the Kursk region were at risk of a siege by Russian forces backed by North Korean troops.
Oleksandr Syrskyi said he was visiting forces fighting in Kursk without providing an exact location, but made a statement on social media. “Many settlements on the border, whose names appeared in Russian propagandists' reports, actually ceased to exist. They were destroyed by invaders' artillery fire,” Silsky said.
“The enemy is suffering a great deal of losses in personnel and equipment despite the considerable number of Russian troops involved in attacks enhanced by North Korean infantry,” he added.
Trump proposed this weekend that even with Ukraine's support from the US, it may not be able to continue fighting in the war with Russia. In an interview with Fox News, he said, defending his decision to cut back on support for Ukraine: “Well, that might not survive anyway.”
Trump also said Zelensky was taken from the US under the Biden administration, like “candy from the baby.” He repeated his claim that Zelenskyy described him as “smart” and “tough” rather than “appreciative.”
Additional Reports by Aletha Adu
