Ukraine-Russia battle newest: Zelensky says crunch peace talks in Saudi Arabia with US officers might be ‘fully constructive’ | EUROtoday

U.S. officers have revealed one of many main proposals they’d prefer to see Ukraine supply to finish the battle with Russia: ceding land.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio advised reporters as he headed to Saudi Arabia that Ukraine ceding territory could be among the many exhausting concessions he expects each Ukraine and Russia to make to attain peace.

“The most important thing that we have to leave here with is a strong sense that Ukraine is prepared to do difficult things, like the Russians are going to have to do difficult things to end this conflict or at least pause it in some way, shape or form,” he advised reporters.

“I think both sides need to come to an understanding that there’s no military solution to this situation,” he added. “The Russians can’t conquer all of Ukraine, and obviously it’ll be very difficult for Ukraine in any reasonable time period to sort of force the Russians back all the way to where they were in 2014.”

The Trump administration seems to be set to proceed its technique of extra direct engagement with Vladimir Putin and Russia alongside multi-party makes an attempt to finish the Russia-Ukraine battle.

White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is planning a visit with Russia later this week to fulfill with Putin, Axios studies.

The content material of that assembly stays to be decided, and can certainly be influenced by the outcomes of the continuing Saudi talks across the battle.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had heat phrases for de facto Saudi Arabian chief Mohammed bin Salman on Monday, after the pair met forward of wider talks to finish the Russia-Ukraine battle.

For Zelensky, the talks are an important second to shore up his slipping place, because the U.S. continues to float in the direction of Russia after sending billions in assist to the Ukrainian facet.

Here’s what the Ukrainian chief wrote, courtesy of an announcement on X.

I had a superb assembly with Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman. I’m grateful for his sensible perspective on international affairs and assist for Ukraine. It was particularly necessary to listen to phrases of confidence in Ukraine’s future. We mentioned all key points on the agenda—each bilateral issues and cooperation with different companions. I acknowledged the Crown Prince’s efforts in bringing true peace nearer. Saudi Arabia gives an important platform for diplomacy, and we respect this. The Ukrainian delegation stays in Jeddah to work with the U.S. workforce on Tuesday, March 11, and we hope for sensible outcomes. Ukraine’s place in these talks might be totally constructive. With the Crown Prince, we had an in depth dialogue on the steps and circumstances wanted to finish the battle and safe a dependable and lasting peace. I particularly emphasised the difficulty of the discharge of prisoners and the return of our kids, which may grow to be a key step in constructing belief in diplomatic efforts. A big a part of the dialogue was devoted to the codecs of safety ensures. We respect Saudi Arabia’s readiness to increase financial cooperation and spend money on Ukraine. We mentioned key sectors for funding, beginning with safety, vitality, and infrastructure. We share a standard imaginative and prescient for financial growth and interplay, significantly concerning Ukraine’s reconstruction. The Crown Prince additionally shared Saudi Arabia’s formidable financial technique, and we want our companions success. We are able to collaborate and are assured that stronger ties between our nations and areas will profit each our peoples and the world.

Elon Musk urged on Monday that an alleged cyberattack which brought about outages throughout his social community X had ties to Ukraine.

“We’re not sure exactly what happened, but there was a massive cyberattack to try to bring down the X system with IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area,” Musk said in an interview with Fox News.

Here’s more on the cyberattack, which brought caused tens of thousands of reported outages.

US and Ukrainian officials are meeting in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday in a bid to end the years-long war between Russia and Ukraine.

It is believed that Ukraine will propose a partial ceasefire across air and sea with Russia – including long-range drone and missile strikes and combat operations in the Black Sea.

The US, in turn, wants Ukraine to be prepared to give greater concessions, including giving up territory to Russia.

Sir Keir Starmer told Donald Trump he hopes for a “positive outcome” following tomorrow’s peace talks, including the resumption of intelligence sharing and military aid for Ukraine.

After the relationship between the US and Ukraine plunged to new lows following a fiery argument at the White House, the US president paused the supply of weapons and intelligence that Kyiv said have been crucial in their fight against Russia.

Ahead of the talks, Trump said the ban on intelligence sharing had “just about” ended, and in a conversation with the US president on Monday Sir Keir said he hoped the US would restore its support to Ukraine following the peace talks in Saudi Arabia.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “The Prime Minister stated he hoped there could be a constructive final result to the talks that will allow US assist and intelligence-sharing to be restarted.”

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and US secretary of state Marco Rubio have arrived in Saudi Arabia in preparation for crunch peace talks on Tuesday.

Mr Zelensky has said a team including his chief of staff Andriy Yermak, foreign minister Andriy Sybiha and defence minister Rustem Umerov will take part in the talks on Tuesday and Mr Rubio will lead the American team.

The Ukraine president’s officials will try to repair the damage done during visit to Washington descended into an Oval Office argument with US president Donald Trump and vice president JD Vance.

Ukraine is expected to propose an air and sea ceasefire during a meeting with American officials tomorrow to curry favour with an administration that has suggested Kyiv is not serious about peace. The US held meetings with a Russian delegation last month.

Speaking to reporters aboard his plane, Mr Rubio said he and national security adviser Mike Waltz would take stock of Ukraine’s responses.

“What we wish to know is, are they getting into some type of peace dialog and common outlines of the sorts of issues they may think about, recognising that it has been a pricey and bloody battle for the Ukrainians. They have suffered vastly and their folks have suffered vastly,” Mr Rubio stated.

There are 13 European countries, including the UK, who have purchased US F-35 fighter jets.

Though there is no evidence of a so-called ‘kill switch’, Joachim Schranzhofer, head of communications at the German arms company Hensoldt, said there were other ways for aircraft to be grounded.

The Dutch prime minister says Europe must take more responsibility for the continent’s security and strengthen its defence.

Dick Schoof said he discussed the war in Ukraine with European Council President António Costa today.

“As Europe, we must take more responsibility for our own security,” he said in a post on X.

“To do this, we need to significantly strengthen our European defence, while keeping an eye on financial stability and manageable debts. We also talked about migration and the importance of strengthening European competitiveness.”

His comments come ahead of a virtual world leaders’ meeting on Saturday, hosted by Sir Keir Starmer, to progress plans on getting peacekeeping troops on the ground in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff met with a UK advisor ahead of peace talks with the US on Tuesday.

While US President Donald Trump was optimistic ahead of the talks, saying he believed the countries were “going to make a lot of progress”, relations have been strained between the US and Ukraine.

The talks come less than two weeks after an explosive and public argument in the White House between Trump, JD Vance and Zelensky.

UK national security advisor Jonathan Powell met with Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak ahead of the meeting, and on social media Yermak said the pair “exchanged views” on a path to peace.