The Trump administration believes that Ukraine’s leadership is “ready” for the U.S. demand for a Russian ceasefire process.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz will negotiate with their Ukrainian counterparts on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump has stepped up pressure on Ukrainian opposition Volodymyr Zelensky to accept a quick ceasefire with Moscow – but has not immediately promised U.S. security guarantees.
Ten days ago, the two were openly clashing at the White House, and Trump claimed that Zelensky was not ready to end the fight.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.
“The fact that they came here at the high level shows that they want to sit down and be ready to move forward,” State Department officials said on condition of anonymity.
Although Zelensky should also meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Gulf Kingdom, he is not expected to play any official role in the talks with the Americans.
The Ukrainian team will be represented by Andriy Yermak, head of Zelensky’s office, the country’s national security adviser, and foreign and defense ministers.
“We hope to achieve results – in bringing peace closer and continuing to support,” Zelensky said in a video speech late Sunday.
Zelensky is under intense pressure to stress that Putin violated the previous ceasefire deal while seeking corporate security assurances for Kyiv.
No corresponding pressure the United States has been exerting in Moscow has been made public.
Shortly after the White House rankings, Zelensky expressed regret over the incident and tried to fix it with the largest U.S. military supplier.
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff later said Trump had received a letter from Zelensky, which included “apology” and “gratitude.”
In Saudi Arabia, the U.S. team wanted to discuss a “framework” of peace, trying to end the Russian-Ukrainian war, Vikov said.
A major mineral agreement – cheating due to a deal – is reportedly back on Saudi Arabia’s agenda.
Ukraine has proposed to grant the United States the opportunity to obtain its rare earth mineral reserves in exchange for U.S. security assurance.
The White House conflict also caused the United States to suspend all military aid to Ukraine and to stop sharing intelligence.
But when asked Sunday if he would consider suspending intelligence, Trump replied: “Well, we only have. I mean, we really only have, we want to do everything we can to get Ukraine to take things seriously.” He didn’t provide more details.
February 18 – Before the Ukrainian Street in Washington – Rubio held talks with Russian Foreign Secretary Sergei Lavrov. This is a follow-up to a controversial telephone conversation between Trump and Putin.
