Saudi Arabia to host US-Ukraine talks on ending war with Russia

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, confirmed on Thursday that a US delegation will head to Saudi Arabia next week to meet with Ukrainian officials and to press Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages.

The talks with Ukrainian officials, which are preliminarily scheduled to be held in either Riyadh or Jeddah, will aim to establish an initial ceasefire as well as a framework for a future peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, Witkoff told reporters outside the White House.

“I think it’ll be a good meeting,” Witkoff said, adding, “I think it will be a good signal to the Russians, because they have been proactive, too, in wanting to get something done here."

The Trump administration halted all military aid and intelligence support to Ukraine’s military this week after a high-stakes Oval Office meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy led to a heated argument with Trump and Vice President JD Vance in front of the media. Ukraine’s military is heavily dependent on advanced US conventional weaponry and intelligence. 

Zelenskyy’s government has scrambled to reset ties with Trump administration since the raucous meeting. The Ukrainian president left Washington last week without signing a planned critical minerals deal that would see the United States invest, alongside the Ukrainian government, in the country’s future security.

“I think Zelenskyy has offered to sign it, and we’ll see if he follows through,” Witkoff told reporters of the minerals deal on Thursday. In a letter to Trump on Tuesday, the Ukrainian leader apologized to the US president and expressed thanks to the United States for its support. Witkoff called the letter “a positive step." 

Russia’s government has not publicly expressed any commitment to halting the war, which the Kremlin launched unilaterally against Ukraine in 2022.

Why it matters: Saudi Arabia has sought to boost its global clout as a broker of international peace talks, wanting to position itself as a neutral arbiter and a key global power player. 

The kingdom hosted the first round of the Trump administration's recent outreach to Russia, with ministerial-level negotiations between the two adversaries kicking off late last month in Riyadh.

Turkey, also seeking to boost its international standing, followed up by hosting technical-level talks between US and Russian officials late last week. Those discussions, held at the US consul general's residence in Istanbul, did not cover the Ukraine war and instead focused on restoring Russia's diplomatic missions in the United States, Turkish officials said. 

Gulf states and Ankara have been jockeying for regional influence in the Levant since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria late last year. Turkey and several Gulf states avoided fully complying with US-led economic sanctions on Russia throughout much of the war in Ukraine, seeking to stake out a middle ground and benefit strategically from the eventual thaw in hostilities between the two adversarial powers.

Ankara has offered to host Russia-Ukraine talks on ending the conflict as well as additional direct talks between Russia and the United States, Al-Monitor previously reported.

Witkoff on Thursday did not confirm which US officials would head to Saudi Arabia next week but suggested the Russian government would be informed.

A spokesperson for the Saudi Embassy in Washington was not immediately able to provide further detail on the planned meetings.

What’s next: Fox News first reported that the upcoming round of talks in Saudi Arabia next Tuesday would include Witkoff, US national security adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The Ukrainian side will include Zelenskyy and the head of his presidential office, Andriy Yermak, Fox reported.

The Ukrainian side has not confirmed details of the meetings, but Zelenskyy noted on Wednesday that a meeting was in the works with US officials.