The US president has said he expects “a lot of progress” to be made during upcoming talks between Washington and Kiev in Saudi Arabia
US President Donald Trump has said that Washington has “just about ended” its freeze on the provision of intelligence data to Kiev amid its fighting with Russia. The statement comes ahead of negotiations between American and Ukrainian officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Trump halted the provision of US military aid to Ukraine and subsequently stopped sharing intelligence with Kiev after his public quarrel with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky at the White House in late February. Following the meeting, the US president blamed his guest for not wanting peace with Moscow and being ungrateful for the assistance which Washington has provided his country during the conflict.
When asked by journalists aboard Air Force One on Sunday if he would consider ending the intel pause, Trump replied by saying: “We, we just about have. I mean, we really just about have. And we want to do anything we can to get Ukraine to be serious about getting something done.”
The US president also expressed confidence that “we are going to make a lot of progress” during the talks in Jeddah on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff are expected to represent Washington in Saudi Arabia, with Kiev’s delegation to be headed by Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrey Yermak.
US officials told Reuters on Monday that Washington intends to use the meeting to determine if Ukraine is ready to make concessions to Russia to end the conflict. “You can’t say: ‘I want peace,’ and, ‘I refuse to compromise on anything,’” one of the sources stressed.
The Financial Times reported on Sunday that during the discussions in Jeddah, the Kiev authorities are planning to propose a partial ceasefire with Moscow, covering long-range drone and missile strikes and combat operations in the Black Sea, in the hope that it would lead to the US reversing its decision to freeze intelligence sharing and weapons deliveries. An unnamed Ukrainian official told FT that in the short-term, Kiev would prioritize fixing its ties with Washington.
Russia said repeatedly that it is not going to accept a temporary ceasefire with Ukraine as it would likely be used by the West to rearm Kiev. According to Moscow, the conflict must be settled through reliable, legally binding agreements that would eliminate its root causes and make sure the fighting does not resume in the future.
