Zelensky set for crucial Saudi talks amid ceasefire hopes
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Saturday that a meeting between Ukrainian and American delegations will take place on Sunday in Saudi Arabia. It was previously reported that the talks would occur in Riyadh on Monday.
During a war cabinet meeting in Kharkiv, President Zelensky stated that special attention was paid to the preparation for the meeting with the American delegation, which will take place in Saudi Arabia tomorrow, 23rd March - according to the statement posted on the official website of the Ukrainian president.
Zelensky on the talks in Riyadh
On Friday, Zelensky revealed that Defense Minister Rustem Umerov would lead the Ukrainian delegation in talks in Saudi Arabia regarding a ceasefire in Russia's war against Ukraine. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhyi clarified the same day that the gathering between the Ukrainian and US delegations, planned for Monday in the capital of Saudi Arabia, is not political, but purely technical.
The meeting between the US and Russian delegations is scheduled for Monday.
This week, US President Donald Trump held phone discussions with the Russian leader Vladimir Putin and President Zelensky. Trump and Putin agreed on a 30-day ceasefire concerning energy and infrastructure facilities. However, this agreement is narrower than the American proposal for a 30-day ceasefire over airspace, at sea, and on land, which Ukraine had previously accepted.
Key agreement "ready for signing"
In late February in Washington, a meeting occurred between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky. The presidents were expected to sign a partnership agreement regarding resource extraction in Ukraine, but this did not transpire. The meeting in the Oval Office of the White House ended in an argument, and the Ukrainian delegation was asked to leave.
