Special Envoy Steve Witkoff Reveals Upcoming US-Ukraine Meeting in Saudi Arabia

US and Ukrainian negotiators are planning to hold a meeting in Saudi Arabia, US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff told reporters on March 6.

His announcement comes after public tensions between Mr Trump and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, whom the White House boss accuses of not wanting peace with Russia.

“We are in discussions to coordinate a meeting with the Ukrainians in Riyadh or possibly Jeddah,” Witkoff said. “The goal is to establish a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire.”

In a post on X, Mr. Zelensky said he would meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on March 10, after which “my team will remain in Saudi Arabia to work with our American partners.”

According to Axios, the talks could take place on March 12 with the participation of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Mr. Zelensky's Chief of Staff, Andrey Yermak.

In a tense exchange in the Oval Office last week, Mr. Trump accused Mr. Zelensky of “gambling for World War III” and suggested that the Ukrainian leader was not getting enough leverage in trying to shape the conversation. Mr. Trump described Mr. Zelensky’s behavior as “disrespectful” and ordered a halt to military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

Mr Zelensky later called the dispute “unfortunate” and proposed negotiating a limited ceasefire and prisoner exchange with Russia. “After that, we want to move quickly to the next stages and work with the US to agree on a strong final agreement,” he wrote on X on March 4.

Mr Trump has abandoned the previous administration’s strategy of “isolating” Russia and instead sought to open direct talks with Moscow. Russian and US negotiators met for the first time in three years in Riyadh on February 18. Zelensky canceled a trip to the Gulf kingdom that month, saying it would “clash” with talks that took place without his approval.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on March 6 that Moscow was “analyzing” reports about the upcoming meeting between the United States and Ukraine. Russia has previously welcomed the resumption of bilateral contacts with the United States as a positive step toward normalizing relations.

Russia has blamed Kiev for the failure of peace talks in 2022 and accused Ukraine of making unrealistic demands. Moscow insists that Ukraine must abandon its ambitions to join NATO and become a neutral country, as well as recognize Crimea and four other territories that Russia annexed.