Saudi talks focus on Ukraine concessions

High-level delegations from Ukraine and the United States held talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, with Kyiv ready to sign a key minerals deal with the Donald Trump administration and poised to propose a partial cease-fire with Moscow — in an effort to mend ties and restore support from Washington.

The three-day meeting in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah started as the US was gauging if Ukraine is willing to make concessions for Trump's efforts to swiftly end Europe's biggest conflict since World War II. Since taking office in January, the US president has engaged directly with Russia, while halting military assistance to and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

Ukrainian presidency chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, who is part of the Ukrainian delegation, said the discussions had begun positively. "The meeting with the US team started very constructively, we continue our work," he wrote on X.

China supports all efforts conducive to a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis and hopes all parties can reach a just, lasting and acceptable solution, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Tuesday.

China is willing to continue to work with the international community to play a constructive role in the political settlement of the crisis, she told a news briefing in Beijing.

However, Ukraine on Tuesday launched its biggest drone attack on Moscow to date, deploying at least 91 drones, killing at least three people, injuring 18 others and causing a short shutdown of the Russian capital's four airports, according to Russian officials.

The Jeddah talks were expected to also focus on a minerals deal between the US and Ukraine. Trump has framed the deal as key to continued US support and compensation for $65 billion in US military aid to Ukraine in three years.

Previous row

On Feb 28, Trump and Vice-President JD Vance accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of avoiding a cease-fire with Russia, and of being ungrateful to the US and Trump for supplying military and other assistance.

Zelensky later said he is still willing to sign the deal on critical minerals, though US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it would not be the focus of Tuesday's meeting.

Two senior Ukrainian officials said earlier their delegation is ready to sign the minerals accord and will propose a partial ceasefire covering the Black Sea and long-range missile strikes, as well as the release of prisoners.

Rubio signaled that Trump would likely be pleased by such a proposal. "We have to understand the Ukrainian position and have a general idea of what concessions they'd be willing to make. You're not going to get a cease-fire and an end to this war unless both sides make concessions," he told reporters.

However, Rubio declined to specify the concessions each side has to make, but said Kyiv would have difficulty reclaiming all of its lost territory. "The Russians can't conquer all of Ukraine, and obviously it'll be very difficult for Ukraine in any reasonable time period to sort of force the Russians back all the way to where they were in 2014," he said.

Rubio and Zelensky landed a few hours apart on Monday in Saudi Arabia, but did not meet. They both met with the kingdom's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday.

According to a joint statement published on Tuesday by the Saudi state news agency, the crown prince and Zelensky discussed efforts to achieve "sustainable, fair, and comprehensive" peace in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Trump's Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff plans to visit Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin, a person briefed on the plans said on Monday.

Agencies and Xinhua contributed to this story.