U.S. and Ukraine resume talks in Saudi Arabia

The U.S. delegation, led by Secretary of State Rubio, met with the Ukrainian government on Tuesday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The meeting, which focuses on the future of Ukraine and a possible peace agreement, came after tensions rose over several disagreements between the White House and Zelenski.

A senior official assured AFP - a few minutes before the start of the meeting - that Zelenski's government "wants peace." Kiev also claimed Tuesday that its massive drone strike against Moscow and its region should "encourage" Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept an air truce, proposed by Kiev as a precondition for possible talks aimed at ending the war.

"This is a new signal addressed to (Vladimir) Putin to encourage him to take an interest in an air truce," said Andriï Kovalenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian Governmental Center Against Disinformation.

The secretary of state considered the Ukrainian proposal promising. “I'm not saying it's enough, but it's the kind of concession that's needed to end the conflict,” Rubio said shortly before arriving in Jeddah on Sunday.

Tuesday's meeting in Jeddah was scheduled for much earlier, after the first round of talks the Trump Administration held in Riyadh with its Russian counterparts. However, that Ukraine was left at the margin of that summit aroused the anger of Kiev, who postponed this meeting until now.

It comes also after Zelenski's refusal to sign the agreements on rare earth minerals and his run-in with Trump and J.D Vance in the Oval Office.

Now, both delegations seem to be back to facing a possible peace process that would end the Russian-initiated conflict in Ukraine in 2022. Prior to the meeting, from Kiev there have been some signs of readiness to enter dialogue again with the United States. On several occasions, Zelenski regretted the outcome of his last meeting with Donald Trump, and this Monday, before flying to Jeddah, he assured that Russia is the only obstacle to peace.

Zelenski turned to his European allies after the disagreement in Washington DC. The European Union and the United Kingdom pledged to increase their aid programs to Ukraine, as well as to raise their defense spending. Paris and London mentioned the possibility of deploying a military peacekeeping mission to Russia. It has the approval of Ukraine, which wants more guarantees in the peace agreement, however, it was met with rejection by both the White House and the Kremlin.