Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Saudi Arabia for his team to hold talks with US officials. Meanwhile, Moscow expels two British diplomats and accuses the UK of being the “main instigator” of global conflict – while a Trump envoy’s claim over intel sharing is contradicted by a Ukrainian source.
Monday 10 March 2025 17:11, UK
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A little more now from US secretary of state Marco Rubio as he speaks to journalists on his military plane on the way to talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
He is asked about the extraordinary Oval Office clash between Donald Trump and Volodomyr Zelenskyy.
“Well it wasn’t the way it was supposed to go,” he says.
“We had these conversations with them coming in. We explained to them our position. We really wanted to get negotiations. We felt, I felt, I was actually shocked as it was happening, because it went the total opposite of everything we had talked about ahead of time.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I was like – this can’t be real, but it was. But we have to move on.”
Watch the Oval Office argument in full below:
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has been speaking to reporters on his flight to Saudi Arabia for talks with Ukrainian officials.
He says the point of the meetings is to establish Ukraine’s intentions and reach a point where peace is possible.
Rubio says he hopes to get an understanding of “where both sides truly are” and get “a sense of how big the divide is and hard it’s going to be”.
“The most important thing that we have to leave here with is a strong sense that Ukraine is prepared to do difficult things, like the Russians are going to have to do difficult things to end this conflict,” he says.
He adds that he doesn’t have any pre-determined words that each side need to say, but that both need to come to the understanding that there is no military solution to the war only a diplomatic one.
To that end, Rubio says: “I think the French and the British have been very supportive along the way over the last week as well, very helpful.”
He says the minerals deal – abandoned after Donald Trump’s Oval Office row with Volodomyr Zelenskyy – is still on table but not part of this conversation or the main topic on this agenda
On the vexed topic of intelligence sharing (see 14.11 post), he adds: “The Ukrainians are already receiving all defensive intelligence information as we speak.
“I think all the notion of the pause in aid broadly is something I hope we can resolve… what happens tomorrow will be key to that.”
Pressed further on the subject, he says: “Yeah, they [Ukraine] have the ability to defend themselves. But I don’t want to get too deep into the intelligence piece.”
Ukrainian and US officials are meeting in Saudi Arabia this week to discuss whether there is a way forward to peace in the war with Russia.
It comes on the back of a policy reversal from Washington after Donald Trump re-entered office, with the Republican putting heavy pressure on Kyiv to stop their fighting.
This has included withdrawing intelligence support and the bust up in the Oval Office between Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Ahead of this summit, Downing Street has confirmed Sir Keir Starmer and Trump spoke today for around 20 minutes.
The prime minister’s spokesperson said UK officials had spoken to Ukrainian counterparts as well, with several deadly attacks on Ukraine launched from Russia.
The spokesperson said Starmer wants to see intelligence sharing resume as quickly as possible.
They added: “The prime minister said he hoped there would be a positive outcome to the talks that would enable US aid and intelligence sharing to be restarted.
“The two leaders also spoke about the economic deal they had discussed at the White House and the prime minister welcomed the detailed conversations that had already happened to move this forward. Both leaders agreed to stay in touch.”
It is understood Starmer and Trump also discussed trade and tariffs.
These pictures show members of Ukraine’s National Police Special Purpose Battalion firing a howitzer towards Russian troops in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Ukrainian troops fighting in Russia’s Kursk region are not at risk of encirclement, Kyiv’s top general has said.
Russian forces have launched a counteroffensive alongside North Korean troops in an attempt to encircle the Ukrainian soldiers.
Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a post on social media that the situation was under control
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in the city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
The kingdom will host talks between the US and Ukraine tomorrow, though Zelenskyy is not expected to attend.
Instead, he is in Saudi Arabia to meet its Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Crunch US talks
Talks will take place between the Ukrainian president’s team and US officials on ending the war with Russia at an increasingly precarious moment for Kyiv.
Once Ukraine’s main ally, under Donald Trump’s second administration, the US has reorientated its foreign policy and support for the country.
The Saudi Arabian leader has played various mediating roles since Russia’s invasion in 2022, including brokering prisoner exchanges and hosting talks between Russia and the US last month.
The talks are set to take place tomorrow and will be the first between the two countries since the disastrous Oval Office row between Zelenskyy and Trump.
The focus is expected to be on the critical minerals deal as well as how to end the war.
Russia is “applying increased pressure” on Ukrainian forces that have pushed into Russia’s Kursk region, according to the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Ukrainian forces seized around 1,300 sq km (500 sq miles) of land in Russia’s Kursk region in August, which Kyiv said was an attempt to gain a bargaining chip in future negotiations.
They now “likely maintain control of approximately 300 sq km” of territory, the MoD said.
“Russian forces continue to conduct fewer offensive operations elsewhere on the frontline compared to late 2024 and early 2025”, it added.
Ukrainian forces “have launched a number of counterattacks” in the vicinity of Pokrovsk, “Russia’s primary operational focus,” the MoD said.
“Opportunities for Ukrainian counteroffensive have been improved by the reduced number of ground offensives being carried out by Russia,” it added.
“Russian logistics supply lines on the Pokrovsk axis have also been degraded by Ukrainian First Person View Uncrewed Aerial System attacks (drones).”
A little more on the claim from US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, as reported in our previous post, that Washington has “never cut off intelligence for any defensive needs of the Ukrainians”.
Sky News’ Ukraine producer Azad Safarov cites a Ukrainian source with knowledge of the situation as saying the US has continued to share intelligence with Kyiv about Russian activity on the territory of Ukraine.
However, Ukraine is not receiving intelligence on the preparation of missile strikes into its territory by Russia, the source said.
Last week, a Ukrainian source told Sky News that Washington had stopped sharing “all” intelligence with Ukraine.
Military officials from more than 30 nations will take part in Paris talks tomorrow on the creation of an international security force for Ukraine, a French military official has said.
Such a force would aim to dissuade Russia from launching another offensive after any ceasefire comes into effect.
The long list of participants will include Asian and Oceania nations joining the talks remotely, the French official said.
The news comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the UK would host another “coalition of the willing” meeting virtually on Saturday.
The international makeup of the talks offers an indication of how broadly France and Britain are casting their net as they aim to build a coalition of nations to safeguard Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.
The United States expects substantial progress in Ukraine talks this week and hopes that a deal on critical minerals can be signed, Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has said.
As he set off for talks in the Middle East, Witkoff told Fox News intelligence sharing would also be discussed at this week’s meetings.
He also claimed: “The US has never cut off intelligence for any defensive needs of the Ukrainians.”
This claim is at odds with the sources in Kyiv, who say the White House’s decision to halt the sharing of some information has affected Ukraine’s ability to defend against Russian attacks.
We’ll bring you more detail on Witkoff’s comments as we get it.
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