Peace in Ukraine?

How Zelensky is fighting for the future of Ukraine

The world is puzzled: What concessions is Zelenskyi prepared to make?(Bild: APA/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi set off on a trip to Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet the Saudi crown prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman later in the day. A delegation from Kiev and Washington plans to negotiate in Jeddah on Tuesday.

"Ukraine has been striving for peace since the very first second of the war," Selensky wrote on the online service Telegram on Monday. Kiev has "always declared" that the war "continues exclusively (...) at Russia's instigation".

According to information from Kiev government circles, Ukraine wants to propose a ceasefire in the air and at sea in the bloody conflict with Russia at the upcoming talks with US representatives in Saudi Arabia. These types of ceasefire would be "easy to implement and monitor" and therefore a good start, a Ukrainian government representative told the AFP news agency in Kiev on Monday.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio left for Saudi Arabia on Monday night to hold talks with a delegation led by Ukrainian presidential advisor Andriy Yermak. At the meeting with a Ukrainian delegation in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the US wants to determine what concessions Kiev is prepared to make, a US official said. "You can't say: 'I want peace' and at the same time: 'I refuse to compromise'," the government official said. "If they're only interested in the 2014 or 2022 borders, that tells us something," the Washington insider, who wishes to remain anonymous, continued.

No timetable yet
In addition to Zelenskyi, other Ukrainian representatives at the meeting in Saudi Arabia include his chancellery chief Andriy Yermak, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha and Defense Minister Rustem Umyerov. Saudi Arabia is also being discussed for a possible later meeting between US President Donald Trump and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. However, there is no timetable for this yet.

In February, representatives of the US government had already met with colleagues from Russia in Saudi Arabia to discuss a possible end to the war in Ukraine. Trump and Putin agreed to resume their relations during a phone call in February.

Trump expects commodities agreement to be signed
The US President expects Ukraine to sign an agreement on mineral resources with his country. "They will sign the mineral agreement, but I want them to want peace... They haven't shown that to the degree that they should," he said on Sunday (local time) aboard the government's Air Force One plane.

"I think some very big things could happen this week. I hope so," Trump continued. There had been many war deaths again in the past few days. "We have to stop this." Ukraine is demanding security guarantees as part of the agreement. US President Donald Trump wants the natural resources in return for aid that Ukraine received from the USA under the previous US President Joe Biden. The agreement was originally supposed to have been signed in Washington just over a week ago, but this did not happen following a scandal between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi in the Oval Office.

Trump went on to say that the US government was in the process of lifting the pause in intelligence sharing with Ukraine. The US was also looking into "many things with regard to tariffs" on Russian products.