High-stakes talks between Ukraine and United States officials have started at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to find a path towards ending the Ukraine-Russia conflict. As per media reports, the two sides are holding the meeting at a luxury hotel in the Red Sea port city today. The US delegation is being led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The meeting comes hours after Kyiv’s forces launched their largest drone attack on Moscow to date.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a social media post ahead of the talks, expressed hope that the meeting in Jeddah will revive pragmatic American ties after his disastrous meeting with US President Donald Trump last month and he has suggested an initial truce with Russia in the air and at sea.
The proposal is aimed at demonstrating he is working towards President Trump’s objective to end the war at lightning speed after the US President accused the Ukrainian leader of not being ready for peace and pressed on with direct talks with Russia.
The United States, Kyiv’s main ally since the conflict began in 2022, has upended its policy on the war and piled pressure on Ukraine, stopping military assistance and pausing intelligence sharing with Kyiv.
Overnight, Ukraine launched its biggest drone attack on Moscow to date, killing at least one person, sparking fires, closing airports and forcing dozens of flights to be diverted. Russian officials said, over 337 drones were downed over the country. The strikes appeared to be aimed at showing that Kyiv is still capable of major attacks after a spate of Russian missile attacks, one of which killed at least 14 people on Saturday.
