Ukraine, US Teams to Hold Talks in Saudi Arabia to End War with Russia

Ukrainian and U.S. officials are expected to meet in Saudi Arabia late on Sunday to discuss a possible partial ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, part of an escalating diplomatic push by U.S. President Donald Trump to end three years of war. 

The meeting, which precedes talks on Monday between the U.S. and Russian delegations, also in Saudi Arabia, comes as U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff expressed optimism about the chances for ending Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two. "I feel that (Russian President Vladimir Putin) wants peace," Witkoff told Fox News on Sunday. 

"I think that you're going to see in Saudi Arabia on Monday some real progress, particularly as it affects a Black Sea ceasefire on ships between both countries. And from that, you'll naturally gravitate into a full-on shooting ceasefire." 

White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said on Sunday the United States was talking through a range of confidence-building measures aimed at ending the war, including on the future of Ukrainian children taken into Russia. 

Putin agreed last week to Trump's proposal for Russia and Ukraine to stop attacks on each other's energy infrastructure for 30 days, but that narrowly defined ceasefire was soon cast into doubt, with both sides reporting continued strikes. 

A large-scale Russian drone attack on Kyiv overnight killed at least three people, including a 5-year-old child, causing fires in high-rise apartment buildings and damage throughout the capital, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday. 

Meanwhile Russian authorities said on Sunday that their air defenses had destroyed 59 Ukrainian drones targeting the country's southwestern regions, adding that the strikes had killed one person in Rostov. Kyiv, facing continued advances by Russian troops in eastern Ukraine, has backed Trump's call for a blanket 30-day ceasefire. 

The Ukrainian delegation taking part in Sunday's talks will be led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, a fact that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said meant Kyiv would be able to act in a "very quick and very substantive" way, without elaborating. 

However, Ukrainian officials have also said they see the Riyadh talks as purely technical. Heorhii Tykhyi, foreign ministry spokesperson, said on Friday the Ukrainian and American sides were due "to clarify the modalities, the nuances of possible different ceasefire regimes, how to monitor them, how to control them, in general, what is included in their scope."

EUROPEANS SPOOKED 

The contacts between Trump and Putin - two publicly announced phone calls but possibly other exchanges too - have spooked European leaders who fear Washington could be turning its back on Europe in the hope of striking a peace deal with Russia as part of some broader grand bargain encompassing oil prices, the Middle East and competition with China. 

Britain and France are leading European efforts to beef up military and logistical support for Ukraine, and a number of countries have announced plans to increase defense spending as they try to reduce their reliance on the United States. 

However, Witkoff on Sunday played down concerns among Washington's European NATO allies that Putin might be emboldened by any peace deal in Ukraine to invade other neighbors. "I just don't see that he wants to take all of Europe. This is a much different situation than it was in World War Two," Witkoff said. 

Trump said on Saturday that efforts to stop further escalation in the Ukraine-Russia war were "somewhat under control." The U.S. hopes to reach a broad ceasefire within weeks, targeting a truce agreement by April 20, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the planning.