Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit Saudi Arabia next Monday, a day before planned talks there between senior Ukrainian and US officials on ending the war with Russia.
Zelensky said his trip was to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “After that, my team will stay in Saudi Arabia to work with our American partners. Ukraine is most interested in peace,” he said in a post on X.
The Ukrainian leader’s announcement came after US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said on Thursday he is in discussions with Ukraine for a peace agreement framework to end hostilities with Russia and that a meeting is planned next week with the Ukrainians in Saudi Arabia.
“We’re now in discussions to coordinate a meeting with the Ukrainians,” Witkoff told reporters at the White House. He said it would likely be in Riyadh or Jeddah.
Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had acrimonious talks at the White House on February 28 but since then the two sides have resumed work on a revenue-sharing minerals deal.
At his speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, Trump said he had received a letter from Zelenskiy in which the Ukrainian leader said he was “ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible.”
Referring to the Saudi Arabia meeting, Witkoff said, “I think the idea is to get down a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire as well.”Â
Agencies contributed to this report.
