US And Ukraine Hold Talks In Saudi Arabia

Ukrainian and US officials have held crunch talks in Saudi Arabia to find a path towards ending the war with Russia, hours after Kyiv’s forces launched their largest drone attack on Moscow to date.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hopes the meeting in Jeddah will revive ‘pragmatic’ US ties after his disastrous talks 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 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 ahead with direct talks with Russia.

“The meeting has begun very constructively,” Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy’s chief of staff who is leading the Ukrainian delegation, wrote on Telegram.

Ukraine’s anxious European allies are watching for any sign of an improvement, or further deterioration, in Kyiv’s relations with Trump’s Washington, which has upended US policy on the war and piled pressure on Ukraine.

In particular, the United States has stopped military assistance and paused intelligence sharing with Kyiv, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Trump on Monday that he hoped those moves could be reversed as a result of the talks.

“Dear Americans, dear Ukrainians, don’t waste this chance. The whole world is watching you in Jeddah today. Good luck!” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X.

Drone Attack

Meanwhile, Ukraine overnight launched its biggest drone on Moscow yet, deploying at least 91 drones, killing at least three people, sparking fires, closing airports and forcing dozens of flights to be diverted, Russian officials said.

The strike in which 337 drones were downed over Russia, according to Moscow appeared aimed at showing Kyiv can also land major blows after a steady stream of Russian missile and drone attacks, one of which killed 14 people on Saturday.

It comes as Zelenskiy has been calling on his European allies to support the air and sea truce idea that he says would be a chance to test Moscow’s willingness to end the war.

As the diplomacy plays out, Ukraine’s battlefield positions are under heavy pressure, particularly in Russia’s Kursk region, where Moscow’s forces have launched a push to flush out Kyiv’s troops, which had been trying to hold a patch of land as a bargaining chip.

REUTERS/Christopher Ojilere