JEDDAH: Ukrainian and U.S. officials held crunch talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to find a path towards ending the war with Russia, hours after Kyiv’s forces launched their largest drone attack on Moscow to date.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hopes the meeting in Jeddah will revive “pragmatic” U.S. ties after his disastrous talks with U.S. President Donald Trump last month and he has suggested an initial truce with Russia in the air and at sea.
The proposal is aimed at demonstrating he is working towards Trump’s objective to end the war at lightning speed, after the U.S. president accused the Ukrainian leader of not being ready for peace and pressed ahead with direct talks with Russia.
“The meeting has begun very constructively,” Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy’s chief of staff who is leading the Ukrainian delegation, wrote on Telegram.
Ukraine’s anxious European allies are watching for any sign of an improvement, or further deterioration, in Kyiv’s relations with Trump’s Washington, which has upended U.S. policy on the war and piled pressure on Ukraine.
In particular, the United States has stopped military assistance and paused intelligence sharing with Kyiv, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Trump on Monday that he hoped those moves could be reversed as a result of the talks.
“Dear Americans, dear Ukrainians, don’t waste this chance. The whole world is watching you in Jeddah today. Good luck!” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X.–Reuters
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