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The best US diplomat said he sees a promise in Ukraine’s proposal to partially end fire to end war with Russia, before talks in Saudi Arabia between the US and Ukrainian officials later on Tuesday.
“I am not saying that it is sufficient in itself, but this is the type of concessions you will need to see to end the conflict,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday.
Kyiv is expected to offer air and naval truce with Russia during the Jeddles negotiations.
Previously, Russia rejected the idea of a temporary termination of fire, stating that it was an attempt to buy time and prevent Ukraine’s military collapse.
In a separate development, at least two people were killed in a “massive” drone attack overnight against Moscow and the capital, said governor Andrei Vorobiev. Seven apartments in an apartment building were damaged.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobianin said that 74 drones are heading to the city have been taken down. The roof of a building was damaged by drones, he added.
The attack has forced the suspension of a district train network and the restrictions on flights at Moscow airports.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski landed in Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, although he is not expected to play an official role in conversations with the United States.
In his video late on Monday, Zelenski said he hoped for the “practical result” of conversations, adding that the Ukrainian position would be “absolutely constructive”.
The Ukrainian team will be represented by the Head of Zelenski Andriai Jermak, the national security adviser and several ministers from foreign and defense and defense officials.
Rubio will represent the US delegation with national security advisor Mike Walz and the Middle East of the United States Steve Vikof.
Before arriving in Jeddah on Monday, Rubio said it was important to “clearly establish Ukraine’s intentions” for a peaceful deal and that the country “must be ready to do difficult things like the Russians would have to do difficult things to stop this.”
“I will not set the conditions for what they need to do,” he added. “We want to listen to see where they are ready to get and compare what the Russians want, and then see how far we really are.”
He said that both sides should realize that “there is no military decision” in the conflict and it can only be resolved through “diplomatic means”.
Meanwhile, Vitcof plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow later this week, a report on the Bloomberg and Axios News websites, citing unnamed sources.
The Kremlin has not commented publicly on the reported visit.
Jeddah talks come when US President Donald Trump reinforces the pressure on Zelenski to agree to end fire with Moscow without any promises to guarantee US security.
The conversations marked the first official meeting after Zelenski’s visit to the White House, they went down to acrymormons last month.
Following the heated meeting of the Oval Cabinet, the United States stopped military assistance and sharing intelligence for Kiev in the obvious offer to bring Zelenski at the negotiating table.
Rubio said he hoped the pause in the help of being “resolved”, but that negotiations on Tuesday “would be key to it.”
The stopping “arose because we thought that they (Ukraine) were not committed to any peace process,” he said, “if that changes, obviously our position can change.”
“The president will use any instruments he is available to try to reach both sides of this table so that this war is over,” he added.
Earlier on Monday, Trump’s envoy Steve Vikof said he was expecting “significant progress” during the negotiations.
Asked if he believed that Zelenski would return to the United States to sign a deal with minerals later during the week, he told Fox News: “I really hope. All the signs are very, very positive.”
Early Zelensky said he was ready to sign a mineral deal with the United States, which would create a joint fund from the sale of Ukrainian minerals.
Vitcof said that the issues that will be discussed in Saudi Arabia include security protocols on Ukrainians and territorial issues.
He said the US administration had never ruled out the sharing of intelligence for something defensive that Ukraine needs, while on Sunday Trump told Fox News that “almost” has canceled the pause to share Ukraine’s intelligence.
Sir Kiir Starmer also spoke to Trump before the conversations, Downing Street said.
The United Kingdom Prime Minister told Trump that “he hoped he would have a positive result from the conversations that would allow US help and sharing intelligence to be restarted,” said a spokesman.
Russia launched a full -scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and is currently around the fifth of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea, which annexes in 2014.
