Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday (March 6) he would travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday (March 10) for a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman ahead of talks later in the week with US officials.
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US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said he was in discussions with Ukraine for a peace agreement framework to end the three-year war with Russia and a meeting was planned next week with the Ukrainians in Saudi Arabia.
UKRAINE–US DEAL
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (March 4) he received a letter from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which the Ukrainian leader expressed willingness to come to the negotiating table over the Russia-Ukraine war.
Trump said Ukraine was ready to sign a minerals deal with the US, which Washington says is crucial to secure continued US backing for Ukraine’s defense.
Four sources told Reuters that the Trump administration and Ukraine plan to sign the deal in return for military aid, which Trump has paused. But later on Tuesday US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News, “There is no signing planned,” according to a post on X by a Fox reporter.
Zelenskiy says Ukraine is fully committed to constructive dialogue with US
Trump gave no further details on the minerals deal, leaving its fate unclear.
Early on Tuesday, Zelensky pledged to repair relations with the US after what he described as a “regrettable” Oval Office clash with Trump last week.
Zelensky said he wanted to “make things right” and was ready “any time and in any convenient format” to sign the minerals deal, which he left on the table during a visit to Washington after the Oval Office argument with Trump.
His statement came a day after Trump halted military aid to Ukraine, his latest move to upend US policy and adopt a more conciliatory stance toward Russia.
EU LEADERS SUMMIT
European leaders on Thursday (March 6) backed plans to spend more on defense and continue to stand by Ukraine in a world upended by Donald Trump’s reversal of US policies.
But decades of reliance on US protection, divergences on funding and on how France’s nuclear deterrence could be used for Europe showed how difficult it would be for the EU to fill the void left by Washington after it froze military aid to Ukraine.
Washington provided more than 40 per cent of military aid to Ukraine last year, according to NATO, some of which Europe could not easily replace. Some leaders still held out hope, in public at least, that Washington could be coaxed back into the fold.
Macron said that leaders backed Zelensky’s call for them to support the idea of a truce between Russian and Ukrainian forces in the air and at sea. Zelensky told EU leaders such a truce would be a chance to test Moscow’s will to end its three-year invasion.
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The European Union’s defense summit in Brussels took place amid fears that Russia, emboldened by its war in Ukraine, may attack an EU country next and that Europe can no longer rely on the US to come to its aid.
Russian forces damaged Ukrainian energy and gas infrastructure overnight on Thursday in their first major missile attack since the US paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine, piling pressure on Kyiv as President Donald Trump seeks a swift end to the war.