US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to hold Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to travel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from March 10-12 for discussions with Ukrainian officials aimed at advancing President Donald Trump’s goal of ending the Russia-Ukraine war, the U.S. State Department announced.

“Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia March 10-12 for talks with Ukrainian counterparts to advance the President’s goal to end the Russia-Ukraine war. While in Jeddah, he will also meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud to discuss ways to advance shared interests in the region and strengthen the U.S.-Saudi relationship,” U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement, Caliber.Az reports.

Rubio will then travel to Charlevoix, Canada, from March 12-14 for the G7 Foreign Ministers’ meeting, where discussions will centre on America’s foreign policy priorities, including conflicts in the Middle East and Europe, cooperation in Africa and the Indo-Pacific, and stability in the Western Hemisphere. “Secretary Rubio’s engagements will further U.S. interests in peace and security, strategic cooperation, and global stability,” Bruce added.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is travelling to Saudi Arabia for a separate meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ahead of the U.S.-Ukraine talks. Saudi Arabia has played various mediating roles in the conflict, including brokering prisoner exchanges and hosting discussions between Russia and the United States last month.

Zelenskyy will not attend the formal U.S.-Ukraine discussions himself but has delegated his chief of staff, foreign and defence ministers, and a senior military official to lead Kyiv’s participation. “On our side, we are fully committed to constructive dialogue, and we hope to discuss and agree on the necessary decisions and steps,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X. “Realistic proposals are on the table. The key is to move quickly and effectively.”

The talks will focus on reaching a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire, according to Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who has been organising the negotiations. Zelenskyy has proposed a truce in the air and at sea, alongside a prisoner exchange, as a way to test Russia’s commitment to ending the war. However, Moscow has rejected the idea, labelling it an attempt by Ukraine and its Western allies to stall Russia’s advances.

In addition to ceasefire discussions, Kyiv is also expected to finalise a minerals deal with Washington. Under this agreement, revenues from the sale of Ukrainian minerals would fund Ukraine’s needs, a move the U.S. sees as vital for sustaining its support.

With U.S. backing increasingly uncertain, Zelenskyy has been lobbying European allies for increased military and financial assistance as Ukrainian forces face mounting pressure on the battlefield. Open-source maps indicate that Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk region, where they launched an offensive last summer, are now nearly encircled by Russian forces.

Moscow currently controls around a fifth of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014. Russian forces continue to push forward in the eastern Donetsk region, intensifying their aerial and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities. “Russia has launched 1,200 aerial guided bombs, nearly 870 attack drones and more than 80 missiles at Ukraine in the past week alone,” Zelenskyy said.

By Vugar Khalilov