Ukraine will try to persuade the United States to resume intelligence and military support in bilateral talks to high issues this week by convincing Donald Trump that Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants a rapid end to war with Russia.
Managers informed the preparations for negotiations in Saudi Arabia said kyiv should offer a partial cease-fire with Russia for long-range drone and missiles and combat operations in the Black Sea, in the hope that the progress of talks would lead to Washington to reverse his decision to file the sharing of information and the supplies of arms.
Ukrainian negotiators go to Saudi Arabia Monday after the first days without supporting the United States led the country’s troops to abandon the Russian territory they seized last year in the Kursk region.
A Ukrainian official added that kyiv would have short-term priority to fix his ties with the United States, while two European officials said kyiv had seen progress in the cease-fire talks as a counterpart for restarting military aid and intelligence.
“The objective of any negotiation between the Ukrainian and American authorities in Saudi Arabia will be, in particular, to agree on a resumption of assistance,” said Fedir Venislavskiy, a Ukrainian deputy for the Zelenskyy party and a member of the National Security Committee of Parliament, late last week.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be in the Saudi city of Jeddah from Monday to Wednesday for talks, with a brief to “advance the president’s goal to put an end to the Russian-Ukraine war,” said a spokesperson.
In comments on Fox News on Sunday, Trump did not directly mention bilateral talks, but said he was convinced that an “precious” mineral agreement would soon be signed with kyiv.
He rejected the criticism that he had been relatively mild towards Moscow, which he threatened with sanctions last week after suspending assistance to Ukraine. “No one has been tough for Russia than Donald Trump,” he said.
The American pressure on kyiv forced the administration of Zelenskyy to move his position after a disastrous meeting on February 28 at the White House.
“Tactics have changed,” said Volodymyr Fseenko, a political analyst based in kyiv. “Now the most important [thing] consists in normalizing relations with the United States and, if before the plan, it was to obtain the security guarantees first, then to put pressure for a cease-fire, it is now obvious that it will not happen in this order. “”
He added: “Trump says that Ukraine does not want to stop, so the goal for us is to show in the United States that we are ready to act as quickly as possible and start direct negotiations with Russia.”
Zelenskyy told EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday that he wanted to conclude a general framework agreement with the United States which will open the way to more detailed and more detailed agreements on mineral resources and security guarantees.
The wider agreement would start with a cessation of air attacks, sea operations and energy strike and other civil infrastructure.
He would continue with the exchanges of prisoners and the return of the Ukrainian children abducted by the Russian authorities, the measures intended to strengthen confidence between the two parties.
The Ukrainian President will fly to Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet the crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the negotiations of Djeddah which should start the next day.
Andriy Yermak, head of the Zelenskyy office, will lead the Ukrainian negotiation team, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Sybiha, the Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov and the deputy chief of the office of President Pavlo Palisa.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said that Brussels and kyiv “worked very, very closely together”.
While European officials say that around 20 countries, led by the United Kingdom and France, said that they could form a “volunteer coalition” to support Ukraine after any cease-fire, Trump has so far refused to commit us to support such a force.
The American president was rabid last week when his Ukrainian counterpart suggested that an agreement to end the war was still very far. “If anyone does not want to conclude an agreement, this person will not be very long,” said Trump.
But kyiv did not abandon the United States to play a role of role in implementing the ceasefire, according to European officials who spoke with their Ukrainian counterparts before the talks.
They indicate that this could include, but without limiting themselves, the use of American satellites or intelligence signals for the verification of the ceasefire.
NBC News reported US officials saying that the mineral agreement would not be enough for Trump to resume help and share information. He added that the American president also wanted Zelenskyy to change his position on peace talks, including concessions such as the abandonment of the territory to Russia, and head to the elections in Ukraine itself or even resign as president.
“Ukraine sought peace from the very first second of this war,” said Zelenskyy on the X platform on Saturday. “Realist proposals are on the table. The key is to move quickly and effectively. »»
Russian Ministry of Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said last week that “a kind of respite is absolutely unacceptable” without “final regulations”.
Additional Ben Hall reports in London
