The high-stakes talks in Saudi Arabia were the first between top U.S. officials and the Ukrainian leadership since President Volodymyr Zelenskyy clashed with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance in front of journalists at the White House on Feb. 28.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was joined on the U.S. side by national security adviser Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff; the Ukrainians were represented by Zelenskyy’s Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
Relations between Kyiv and Washington have been fragile since the televised Oval Office spat, with Trump halting U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine. Since the rift, Kyiv has been desperately trying to patch up relations with Washington to restore essential aid and win back support of their key backer.
Ahead of the talks, Rubio hinted on Monday evening that aid could start flowing again depending on the outcome of the upcoming talks, saying the U.S. “could have good news to announce on that front” — but added that Ukraine would have to give up some of the territory Russia has seized since 2014 for any deal to end the war.
“They’ve [Ukrainians] suffered greatly and their people have suffered greatly, and it’s hard in the aftermath of something like that to even talk about concessions,” Rubio told reporters. “But that’s the only way this is going to end to prevent more suffering.”
Ukraine has long ruled out any ceasefire agreement that includes giving up land occupied by Russia, including the Crimean Peninsula, which Russian President Vladimir Putin seized in 2014. The Ukrainian government has instead called for a “just peace” that would see the Kremlin pay reparations for its grinding three-year war.
