Zelenski cites Russia as the only obstacle to peace ahead of his meeting with Marco Rubio in Saudi Arabia
The Ukrainian and U.S. governments hope to restore talks on the future of Ukraine and the rare earths agreement to their state prior to Zelenski and Trump's disagreement in the Oval Office.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski.
Marco Rubio arrived Sunday in Jeddah and Volodimyr Zelenski is expected to do the same late Monday. Both dignitaries have a pending meeting in Saudi Arabia that was delayed several weeks due to the first meeting between Marco Rubio and the Russian delegation, without inviting Ukraine.
Ahead of this meeting, the Ukrainian president again emphasized his commitment to peace and an end to the conflict with Russia, while singling out the Kremlin as the only obstacle to peace.
"Ukraine has been seeking peace since the first second of the war, and we have always said that the only reason the war continues is Russia," Zelenski said on social media.
The meeting in Saudi Arabia between the secretary of state and the Ukrainian president is vital to revive momentum in the peace talks, after they were left up in the air by disagreements between Zelenski and the White House over the signing of the rare earths deal.
Since then, Kiev has turned to its European allies, led by France and the United Kingdom. Several of these have proposed a joint military deployment in Ukraine in the form of a peacekeeping mission as the main guarantee that Russia will not again assault its neighbor.
Truce by “land, sea and air”
As this source told AFP, Ukraine will present “a proposal for an air truce and a sea truce, because these are the ceasefire options that are easy to implement and monitor.”
Rubio and White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz are expected at Tuesday's meeting in Jeddah. On the Ukrainian side, in addition to Zelenski, Kiev's National Security Adviser and the defense and foreign ministers.
Washington looks favorably on the meeting and believes it could move forward and make amends for the Oval Office disaster earlier this month. "The fact that senior officials are coming is a good indication to us that they want to sit down and are ready to move forward," a senior State Department official told AFP.
Trump told reporters Sunday that he believes he will get "a good result in Saudi Arabia... we have a lot of good people there." "I think Ukraine will do well, and I think Russia will do well. I think some very important things could happen this week. I hope so," he added.
RECOMMENDATION
LATEST
