Zelenskiy lands in Saudi Arabia as US voices high hopes for Ukraine talks

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy landed in Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a day before talks between Ukrainian and U.S. officials that Washington expects to deliver substantial progress towards ending the war with Russia.

The United States, once Ukraine's main ally, has upended its wartime policies in its stated pursuit of a rapid end to the fighting, engaging directly with Moscow while stopping military assistance and intelligence sharing for Kyiv.

Grappling with the new approach in the White House, Ukraine has pushed for "pragmatic" relations after a disastrous Oval Office encounter between Zelenskiy and U.S. President Donald Trump descended into acrimony last month.

Zelenskiy is expected later on Monday to meet the Saudi crown prince, whose country has played mediating roles since Russia's 2022 invasion, including brokering prisoner exchanges and hosting last month's talks between Moscow and Washington.

Tuesday's talks between U.S. and Ukrainian officials are the first official meeting since Zelenskiy's abortive White House meeting, and Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said he had high hopes going into the talks.

"I think that we're going over there with an expectation that we're going to make substantial progress," Witkoff said in an interview with Fox News.

Asked if he thought Zelenskiy would return to the U.S. to sign a minerals deal this week, Witkoff said: "I am really hopeful. All the signs are very, very positive."

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking to reporters en route for Jeddah on Monday, echoed that optimism, although he stressed there were still more details to be worked out on the minerals deal.

Under huge pressure from Trump, Zelenskiy has been at pains to show they are on the same page, despite failing to win U.S. security guarantees that Kyiv sees as vital for any peace deal.

Zelenskiy has said he will not attend Tuesday's talks with U.S. officials and that the Ukrainian delegation will include his chief of staff, his foreign and defence ministers and a top military official in the presidential administration.

"On our side, we are fully committed to constructive dialogue, and we hope to discuss and agree on the necessary decisions and steps," Zelenskiy said in a post on X.

"Realistic proposals are on the table. The key is to move quickly and effectively."

U.S. officials said they were planning to use the meeting with the Ukrainians in part to determine whether Kyiv is willing to make material concessions to Russia to end the war.

One U.S. official said: "We want to see if the Ukrainians are interested not just in peace, but in a realistic peace."

Trump said on Sunday he expected good results out of the upcoming talks, adding that Washington had "just about" ended a suspension of intelligence sharing with Kyiv.

FRAMEWORK FOR AN AGREEMENT

Witkoff, who has been arranging the talks, has said the idea is to "get down a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire as well".

Zelenskiy has called for a truce in the air and at sea, as well as a prisoner exchange, in what he says could be a test of Russia's commitment to ending the war.

Moscow has rejected the idea of a temporary truce, which has also been proposed by Britain and France, saying it was a bid to buy time for Kyiv and prevent its military collapse.

Zelenskiy has said Kyiv is ready to sign the minerals deal with the U.S., which would create a joint fund from the sale of Ukrainian minerals. Washington says it is crucial to secure continued U.S. backing.

With U.S. support in question, Zelenskiy has been urging his European allies to ramp up their support as Kyiv's battlefield position deteriorates and it faces mounting pressure to retreat from Russia's Kursk region.

Ukrainian troops that stormed into the Kursk region last summer are nearly surrounded by Russian forces, open source maps show.

However, Kyiv's top general, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on Monday his troops in the Kursk region were not at risk of encirclement, despite a recent counteroffensive by Russian forces that has included North Korean troops.

Russia holds around a fifth of Ukraine's territory, including Crimea which it annexed in 2014, and its troops are also pressing in the eastern Donetsk region, having ramped up drone and missile strikes on cities and towns far from the front.

Russia has launched 1,200 aerial guided bombs, nearly 870 attack drones and more than 80 missiles at Ukraine in the past week alone, Zelenskiy has said.

(Reporting by Olena Harmash, Doina Chiacu, Yuliia Dysa; Writing by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Alex Richardson and Gareth Jones)