DUBAI: Saudi Arabia is to host talks on Tuesday between the United States and Ukraine in a new diplomatic push after an argument erupted during President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s February 28 visit to the White House. The oil-rich kingdom may seem like an unusual venue for talks aimed at smoothing over relations after the blowup. But Saudi Arabia under its assertive Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been positioning itself as an ideal location for possible peace negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow — and even the first face-to-face talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump.
Here’s what to know about why this meeting is taking place and Saudi Arabia’s role:
Why are these talks happening?
US and Ukrainian officials will meet after the Oval Office meeting between Zelenskyy, Trump and US Vice President JD Vance descended into an extraordinary 10-minute argument before journalists. Trump at one point admonished Zelenskyy by angrily saying: “You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country.” Zelenskyy ended up leaving the White House without signing a deal that included granting the US access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals. Kyiv hoped that deal would ensure the continued flow of US military support that Ukraine urgently needs as it battles Russia in the war that began after Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Where will these talks take place?
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry in a statement on Friday identified the location for the talks as Jeddah, a port city on the Red Sea. It’s not clear why the kingdom picked Jeddah as opposed to Riyadh, the Saudi capital where the initial Russia-U.S. Talks took place on February 18. However, Jeddah has hosted other diplomatic engagements in the past and is home to royal palaces.
The Foreign Ministry said the kingdom would continue to pursue “a lasting peace to end the Ukrainian crisis”. “The kingdom has continued these efforts over the past three years by hosting many meetings on this matter,” the ministry said.
Who will attend the talks?
Zelenskyy plans to visit Saudi Arabia on Monday ahead of the talks. He earlier delayed a trip to the kingdom after travelling to the neighbouring United Arab Emirates, which also has been considered as a possible venue for peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow. “We continue working on the relevant steps with our partners who want peace, who want it just as much as we do,” Zelenskyy said on Friday.
“There will be a lot of work here in Europe, with America in Saudi Arabia — we are preparing a meeting to accelerate peace and strengthen the foundations of security.” Zelenskyy wrote online that a team including his chief of staff Andriy Yermak, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov travelling with him to Saudi Arabia will take part in the talks.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead the American team for the Ukrainian talks and meet with Prince Mohammed. Sybiha also spoke on Friday with Rubio ahead of the talks. Sybiha described it as a “constructive call”. A two-sentence readout from the State Department said Rubio “underscored President Trump is determined to end the war as soon as possible and emphasized that all sides must take steps to secure a sustainable peace”. Trump himself sounded upbeat on Air Force One on Sunday when speaking to journalists.
“I think you’re gonna have eventually — and maybe not in the distant future — you’re gonna have some pretty good results coming out of Saudi Arabia this week,” Trump said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked on Monday about the talks, said: “It doesn’t matter what we’re expecting. It matters what the United States is expecting.”
Why are these talks in Saudi Arabia?
Since assuming power in Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed took an aggressive posture both at home and abroad. His public image reached its nadir with the 2018 slaying of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, believed by the United States and others to be at the prince’s orders.
In the last two years, however, Prince Mohammed instead has reached a détente with Iran, hosted Zelenskyy for an Arab League summit and been involved in negotiations over the wars in Sudan and the Gaza Strip. Riyadh also maintained ties to Russia through the OPEC+ oil cartel while Western nations levied sanctions against it. That’s reasserted the role the kingdom long has perceived itself as having — being the leader of the Sunni Muslim world and a dominant force in the Middle East.
Hosting Russia-US talks, possibly drawing Trump to the kingdom for his first foreign trip in this term through investments and other possible meetings only raise Saudi Arabia’s profile further as a neutral territory for high-stakes negotiations. Saudi Arabia’s autocratic government, compliant media and distance from the war also allows for talks to take place in a tightly controlled country with relative privacy.
What does this mean for the war and the wider world? Trump remains focused on reaching some kind of peace deal to stop the war. His approach toward Ukraine so far has relied far more on stick than carrot — limiting their access to intelligence and weaponry. While conciliatory toward Putin, Trump recently also threatened new sanctions against Russia over its ceaseless attacks on Ukrainian cities.
If Ukraine and the U.S. Reach some sort of understanding acceptable to Trump, that could accelerate his administration’s push to talks. However, the rest of Europe remains sceptical as they have been sidelined from the talks. The European Union last week agreed to boost the continent’s defences and to free up hundreds of billions of euros for security.
