The Trump administration believes Ukraine’s leadership is “ready to move forward” on the US demand for a ceasefire process with Russia, according to a senior US state department official. The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz are due to arrive in Saudi Arabia for Tuesday’s talks with their Ukrainian counterparts. President Donald Trump has stepped up pressure on his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to accept his demands for a quick ceasefire with Moscow – but without any immediate pledge of a US security guarantee. Ten days ago the two publicly clashed at the White House, with Trump claiming Zelensky was not ready to end the fighting. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory. “The fact that they’re coming here at senior levels is a good indication to us that they want to sit down and they’re ready to move forward,” said the state department official. While Zelensky is also due in the Gulf kingdom to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, he is not expected to play any formal role in the talks with the Americans. The Ukrainian team will be represented by Zelensky’s head of office Andriy Yermak, the country’s national security adviser and foreign and defense ministers. In his video address late on Sunday, Zelensky said: “We hope for results – both in bringing peace closer and in continuing support.” Zelensky has been under strong US pressure to make concessions ahead of any peace talks, while he has been pushing for firm security guarantees for Kyiv, stressing that Putin violated previous ceasefire deals. Any corresponding pressure the US has been putting on Moscow to make concessions has not been made public. Soon after the White House row, Zelensky expressed regret about the incident and tried to repair relations with the US – the country’s biggest military supplier.
Source link
