NEW YORK, March 10. /TASS/. The United States expects the March 11 talks with Ukraine in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah to yield serious progress towards resolving the Ukrainian conflict, US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steven Witkoff said.
"I think that we're going over there with an expectation that we're going to make substantial progress. And so I'm certainly hopeful for that," he told Fox News, commenting on the upcoming meeting.
In his words, there has been "a lot of discussion" between US and Ukrainian negotiators after the late February meeting in Washington between US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky.
"And I would like to describe it as progress," he said. "And so, I would hope that there's a deal."
"What's important to discuss are obviously security protocols for the Ukrainians, they care about that, [and also] the territorial issues <…> but these are not complicated things. They just need to be put on the table, and everybody needs to be transparent about what their expectations are. Then we can begin to have a discussion around how we compromise," Witkoff added.
On February 28, Zelensky arrived at the White House for a meeting with Trump. During their conversation, which took place in the presence of journalists, an altercation erupted. Trump criticized Zelensky for his perceived disrespect toward the United States, while Vice President JD Vance interjected, noting that Zelensky had forgotten to express gratitude for the support provided to Kiev. As a result, the press conference that was scheduled to follow the meeting was canceled, and the signing of a mineral resources agreement between Ukraine and the United States did not occur. In a post on the social media platform Truth Social, Trump reiterated his view that Zelensky’s behavior was disrespectful and indicative of his lack of preparedness for a peace settlement.
On March 3, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Zelensky’s remark about the conflict being far from over was "the worst statement that could have been made." He added that "America will not put up with it for much longer." Later that day, Trump said, apparently referring to Zelensky, that if someone doesn’t want peace in Ukraine, that person "will not stay here for long." He also expressed confidence in Russia’s desire to resolve the conflict. The White House then announced that Washington had suspended military aid to Kiev.