Ukrainian President Voldy Mirzelensky arrived in Saudi Arabia and visited the kingdom’s crown prince and prime minister ahead of a meeting with US diplomats, ending bilateral mineral trade and Ukrainian war with Russia.
Television in the Saudi Arabian state reported that Zelenskyy has arrived in Jeddah, a port city in the Red Sea where the Ukraine US Summit will be held on Tuesday. He will sit with the Americans on Tuesday before meeting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday.
“Ukraine has been seeking peace since the first seconds of the war. He has always said that Russia is the only reason the war continues,” Zelensky wrote on social media before his trip.
US Secretary of State Mark Rubio arrived in Jeddah shortly after Zelensky. Top US diplomats lead a delegation, including Mike Waltz, national security adviser to US President Donald Trump.
Rubio said it is important to clearly establish Ukraine’s intention to reach a point where peace with Russia is possible.
He spoke with reporters on his way to the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for a meeting with Ukrainian officials on Tuesday. Rubio stressed that it is important to leave the meeting with a strong sense that Ukraine is being prepared to “do the difficult things.”
Tensions have been rising between Ukraine and the United States since the February 28 oval office meeting between Zelensky and Trump fell into debate, leading to the US halting all military aid to Ukraine.
In a report from Kyiv, Charles Stratford of Al Jazeera said there are stories in Ukraine that Zelenkie school plans to provide a partial ceasefire with an end to hostilities in the air and sea.
“The President hopes that this kind of message will somehow alleviate this pressure that the US is putting in Ukraine. We are talking about stopping military aid, sharing intelligence and stopping full access to satellite images,” Stratford said.
“It’s very interesting, some analysts say that if Zelenskyy plays it right, he can get the ball back to the Russian courts. He actually tests the Russians.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the decision should be made whether Ukraine wants peace.
“What we expect is not important,” Peskov told reporters after a Ukraine talk in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
“The key here is what the US expects, and at various levels, you and I have heard repeated statements that the US is waiting for a demonstration of Ukrainians’ desire for peace,” Peskov said.
“In fact, this is probably something everyone is waiting for. It’s very important and needs to be decided whether members of Zelenskyy’s administration really want peace.”
Russia advances in Kursk
Meanwhile, on the frontline, Russian forces are increasing pressure on Ukrainian forces, which hold part of Russia’s Kursk region, and seeking to gain foothold in Ukraine’s Smie region.
Ukrainian soldiers launched a bold attack on Russia’s Kursk in August, catching even their Western allies off guard, causing an embarrassing blow to the Kremlin.
However, Ukraine lost its ground and admitted last month it lost two-thirds of the territory it once ruled within the region.
On Monday, the two majors, a blog of the Russian War, said that the Russian army is moving forward with Kursk in at least seven directions in reconciliation between Ivashkovsky and Russian units.
Yuri Podolyaka, a Ukrainian-born pro-Russian military blogger, said that Russia’s advancement was so quick that it was struggling to keep up with the event.
He said that Ukrainian units were trapped in several pockets in Kursk.
“In the past four days, the Russian troops have cleared many territories in the Kursk region in the Kursk region in the Kursk region in the Kursk region in the past few months,” said another Russian close to the Ministry of Defense, who writes the blog’s livestream.
“The front line has holes,” the creator of the river said, adding that Russian troops are gathering within the Ukrainian border and blocking the main roads that run from Kursk to the Smie region of Ukraine.
However, Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Silsky said Kiev is strengthening its military.
“I have decided to strengthen grouping with the necessary forces and means including electronic warfare and unmanned components,” Syrskii wrote in a social media post.
He addressed concerns in Ukrainian media that the country’s military could be surrounded, saying, “There is no threat of siege of our units in the Kursk region at the moment.”
However, he admitted that Ukrainian forces are buckling under Russian pressure and must return to a more comfortable position to hold.
“The units are taking timely steps to pilot the advantageous line of defense,” Silsky said.
Separately, the Ukrainian army said it had launched a drone strike that would hit several Russian targets, including oil refineries that its units “supply to invaders.”
“The defense forces continue to take all steps to undermine the military economic potential of Russian occupiers and to force the Russian Federation to stop armed attacks on Ukraine,” the military said.
However, the Russian Ministry of Defense said its air defense system destroyed two Ukrainian drones.
The province wrote on Telegram on Monday that it collapsed in Russia’s Belgorod region and the other in the Kursk region, both of which are sitting on the border with Ukraine.
