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US says it will see if Kyiv is interested in ‘realistic peace’
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Ukrainian and American officials are meeting in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss how to bring an end to the war with Russia.
American officials will use the talks to decide whether Kyiv is interested in a “realistic” peace deal, one of them told Reuters, as well as repairing the damage to relations with the US after Donald Trump‘s Oval Office clash with Volodymyr Zelensky.
The US will be represented by secretary of state Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff. The Ukrainian officials will be led by Andriy Yermak, Mr Zelensky’s chief of staff.
Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address that he would travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday to “continue to work for the sake of peace”.
On the eve of the talks, Mr Trump suggested that Ukraine may not outlast the Russian war even with support from the US. “Well, it may not survive anyway,” he told Fox News as he defended withdrawing support to the war-hit nation.
Russia has no planned talks with the US this week, as American and Ukrainian officials prepare to meet for peace talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
Russian state news agency TASS cited Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying on Monday that no talks were planned this week between Russia and the US.
CNN had reported on Sunday that US officials would meet Russian counterparts during talks with Ukraine in Saudi Arabia this week.
Donald Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was a “smart guy” who had not been grateful for US support.
In an interview with Fox on Sunday ahead of peace talks in Saudi Arabia, Trump warned Ukraine “may not survive” the war with Russia.
“He’s a smart guy, and he’s a tough guy.” Trump said of Zelensky. “He took money out of this country, under [Joe] Biden, like candy from a baby.”
Asked if he was comfortable with the fact that if the US walked away from supporting Ukraine, the country may not survive, Trump said: “Well, it may not survive anyway. But, you know, we have some weaknesses with Russia. You know, it takes two.”
The UK is advising Ukraine on how to manage peace talks ahead of a meeting between US and Ukrainian officials.
Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky is travelling to Saudia Arabia today, after meeting with Sir Keir Starmer’s national security adviser Jonathan power over the weekend, The Times reports.
The talks come after a renewed Russian onslaught after the US halted intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump said America has “just about” ended the suspension of intelligence sharing ahead of the peace talks.
Donald Trump has warned he wants more concessions from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of talks in Saudi Arabia.
American officials are meeting with Ukrainian counterparts tomorrow to see whether a deal to end the war between Ukraine and Russia can be brokered.
While Ukraine has already agreed to a minerals deal with the US, NBC reports the US President wants Zelensky to be open to giving up territory to Russia and make moves to hold an election and potentially step down as the country’s leader.
‘We want to do anything we can to get Ukraine to be serious about getting something done,’ Trump told reporters on Sunday.
At least six people have been killed in the latest day of Russian attacks across Ukraine, local officials have reported.
In the eastern Donetsk region, governor Vadym Filashkin said three civilians were killed, including two in Pokrovsk and one in Zoria, near the frontline.
In the northeast Kharkiv region, a woman and two men were also killed after a Russian drone dropped an explosive device, governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
There were also injuries in the regions of Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia, including two teenagers.
Russia’s battlefield successes in Kursk and the suspension of US intelligence sharing by the Trump administration are correlated, according to a US-based think tank.
“The temporal correlation between the suspension of US intelligence sharing with Ukraine and the start of Russia’s collapse of the Ukrainian Kursk salient is noteworthy,” the Institute for the Study of War said.
It pointed to how the Trump administration suspended US intelligence sharing with Ukraine on 5 March, although there were conflicting reports about the details about the US suspension.
“Russian forces intensified offensive operations to expel Ukrainian forces from Kursk Oblast on 6 and 7 March. A source reportedly affiliated with Ukrainian military intelligence started reporting more rapid Russian advances in Kursk oblast on 5 March,” the ISW said.
It added: “ A direct link between the suspension of US intelligence sharing and the start of the collapse of Ukraine’s salient in Kursk oblast is unclear, although Kremlin officials have recently announced their intention to take advantage of the suspension of US military aid and intelligence sharing to “inflict maximum damage” to Ukrainian forces “on the ground” during the limited time frame before the possible future resumption of US intelligence sharing and military aid to Ukraine.”
As our world affairs editor reports from Ukraine, Russia is exploiting Donald Trump’s decision to withhold intelligence by stepping up its attacks and, in the process, is regaining ground in Kursk.
Elite Russian airborne and marine units, backed by North Korean soldiers, launched full-frontal assaults on the Ukrainians with artillery, drones and air attacks. The absence of US intelligence is giving Russia a crucial advantage. “We’re losing,” one Ukrainian fighting in Kursk told this newspaper.
The vast intelligence community of the US, with 18 agencies, previously provided Kyiv with crucial information, including satellite imagery. Without it, Ukrainian forces have far less real-time knowledge of Russian formations, movements, logistics and warnings of missile attacks.
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