Wolodymyr Selenskyj meets US Foreign Minister Rubio in Saudi Arabia. The talks are about the continued existence of Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio are expected on Monday in Saudi Arabia, where new Ukraine talks are to take place. Both politicians want to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia. Read more about this here.
In the past few weeks, relationships between Ukraine and its previous narrow allies, the USA, have been shaped by conflicts. At a meeting between Selenskyj, US President Donald Trump and his Vice President JD Vance there was a scandal. Trump and Vance provoked Selenskyj, who left the white house. The United States had then decided not to forward interspersonal service information to Ukraine and to stop gun deliveries for the time being.
Selenskyj still puts new hopes in the talks in Saudi Arabia. T-Online answers the most important questions about the meeting on the Arabian Peninsula.
Wolodymyr Selenskyj and Marco Rubio each bring their own delegation to Saudi Arabia. Selenskyj is accompanied by his Chancellor Andrij Jermak, Foreign Minister Andrij Sybiha and Defense Minister Rustem Umjerow.
Marco Rubio, accompanied by Mike Waltz, the National Security Advisor of the United States, and Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s special representative for the Middle East.
Both politicians also plan a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, who appears as an intermediary. However, the Crown Prince will not participate in bilateral meetings between Ukrainians and Americans.
In a statement on Friday, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the talks between the USA and Ukraine would take place in the port city of Dschidda. It is unclear why the kingdom prefers the port city of the Saudi capital Riad. The first talks between representatives of the United States and Russia took place in Riad on February 18.
Both Selenskyj and representatives of the US government were carefully optimistic before the meeting in Saudi Arabia. A spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department said on Sunday that Rubio Wolle explore “how to end the goal of the president to end the war between Russia and Ukraine”.
US President Trump also seems to be in good spirits when it comes to talks in Saudi Arabia. In the event of a good course, Ukraine can expect to get important information from the US secret services, Trump explained on Sunday on board the Air Force One. The suspension of the exchange of information with Ukraine is “almost ended. He believes that both countries would make great progress in the negotiations.
The Ukrainian president also goes into the talks with a positive basic attitude. The first talks of the negotiators were already satisfactory, the Ukrainian head of state said on Sunday evening in a video message. “We hope for results, both with regard to peace and the further support.”
The conversations are well prepared, said Selenskyj: “There are realistic suggestions on the table. The key is to move quickly and effectively”.
What goals do the negotiating partners have?
Ukraine wants to secure its state sovereignty in the long term. Ukrainian government agents have announced several times in the past few weeks to understand the complete restoration of territorial integrity as a political goal. If there is an agreement with Russia, it is extremely unlikely that Ukraine will recognize the areas occupied by Moscow as Russian. Ukraine also rejects demilitarization of the country. A continuing strategic orientation to the West is also the goal.
