Peace talks between the US and Ukraine will take place in Saudi Arabia next week, President Zelensky has said.
The Ukrainian leader said he will work ‘constructively’ with President Donald Trump to reach a ‘fast’ and ‘lasting’ peace.
‘Next Monday, I have a visit planned to Saudi Arabia for a meeting with the Crown Prince’, Zelensky said in a post on social media.
‘After that, my team will stay in Saudi Arabia to work with our American partners.’
It comes as Trump began his second stint in the White House by reversing US policy on Ukraine and risking a historic rupture with Europe.
Talks soured between the US president and Zelensky soured on Friday after the two leaders locked horns in dramatic scenes in the Oval Office.
Washington subsequently cut off intelligence sharing with Kyiv in a move that could seriously hamper the Ukrainian military’s ability to target Russian forces.
Trump’s National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said: ‘We have taken a step back.’
‘I want to believe that the United States will stay by our side but we have to be prepared for that not to be the case,’ Macron said bluntly on Wednesday.
‘The future of Europe does not have to be decided in Washington or Moscow,’ he added.
Peace talks between the US and Ukraine will take place in Saudi Arabia next week, President Zelensky (pictured) has said
The Ukrainian leader said he will work ‘constructively’ with President Donald Trump (pictured on Thursday) to reach a ‘fast’ and ‘lasting’ peace
Despite the US taking a step back, Zelensky insisted earlier this week that he is ready to work with Trump.
He said in a post on X that he wanted to ‘make things right’ and described their row in the White House as ‘regrettable’.
The wartime leader also expressed his desire to agree on a truce in the sky and sea ‘immediately, if Russia will do the same.’
President Zelensky was kicked out of the White House last week without signing the much-needed minerals deal following his blistering row with Trump.
Then as fears mounted that Kyiv could not sustain itself without US support, Zelensky made a dramatic climb down on X.
He wrote: ‘Our meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to be. It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right.’
‘None of us wants an endless war.Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians.
‘My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.
‘We are ready to work fast to end the war, and the first stages could be the release of prisoners and truce in the sky — ban on missiles, long-ranged drones, bombs on energy and other civilian infrastructure — and truce in the sea immediately, if Russia will do the same.
‘Then we want to move very fast through all next stages and to work with the US to agree a strong final deal.
‘We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence. And we remember the moment when things changed when President Trump provided Ukraine with Javelins. We are grateful for this.’
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