Volodymyr Zelenskyy is heading to Saudi Arabia for peace talks between his team and US officials this week. Meanwhile, Moscow has expelled two British diplomats over spying accusations.
Monday 10 March 2025 11:04, UK
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Talks to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have so far involved two key players – Washington and Moscow.
Kyiv hopes to finally enter the fray this week in peace talks scheduled with US officials, little more than a week since that disastrous meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
One thing all these talks have in common is the location – Saudi Arabia.
The oil-rich kingdom may seem like an unusual host for talks on a European war, but there could be several factors behind Saudi’s desire to mediate and the willingness of the parties involved.
What’s in it for Saudi?
For Saudi, it’s another chance to boost its profile on the international stage.
Since its public image reached a nadir after the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Gulf state has sought to grow its soft power through the launch of big-money sports leagues in golf and football, while hosting major boxing events – which critics say is the country’s attempt to “sportswash” its poor human rights record.
In the diplomatic sphere, Saudi has reached an understanding with Iran, hosted Volodymyr Zelenskyy for an Arab League summit and been involved in talks over wars in Sudan and Gaza.
It’s all reasserted the role the kingdom long has perceived itself as having – being a dominant force in the Middle East and the leader of the Sunni Muslim world.
Why did the US and Russia pick Saudi?
Trump described Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a “fantastic guy” in January, with Saudi announcing its intention to invest $600bn over the next four years.
The president wants that to rise to £1trn and said he will ask Saudi to lower oil prices.
For Moscow, Riyadh has managed to maintain Russian ties through the OPEC+ oil cartel even as Western nations applied sanctions on the Kremlin.
Saudi has been involved in mediation over the Ukraine war before, helping to secure a prisoner swap in 2022, with 215 Ukrainians – most of whom were captured after the fall of Mariupol – returned.
Saudi privacy
Moreover, Saudi’s autocratic government, compliant media and distance from the war allows for talks to take place in a tightly-controlled country.
That means discussions can continue in relative privacy – and gives Saudi another chance to trumpet itself as a neutral territory for high-stakes negotiations.
The UK has responded to Russia’s expulsion of two British diplomats from Moscow.
In our 7.44am post, we reported on the development in which Russia claimed, without providing evidence, the pair had conducted “intelligence work”.
The FSB told state news agency TASS that both had given false information when entering the country.
In response, the UK slapped down Russia’s claims.
“This is not the first time that Russia has made malicious and baseless accusations against our staff,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.
It came after Russia’s own foreign ministry announced it had summoned a representative of the British embassy in the country.
Alongside that, it repeated claims the two were spies.
In the meeting with the representative, it was added: “British citizens are strongly advised to provide only reliable and complete information about themselves when applying for a Russian visa.
“A warning was also made that if London escalates the situation, the Russian side will give a decisive ‘mirror’ response.”
Some lines now coming out of the Kremlin to bring you.
Vladimir Putin’s mouthpiece Dmitry Peskov has said there is still a “long road” to restore relations with the US, but the “political will” is there to keep going.
That said, he told reporters Putin and Donald Trump do not speak often.
Trump has previously said they have spoken on the phone, though he hasn’t said how many times.
Asked about the upcoming talks between the US and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia, Peskov said it is important to understand if Ukraine is “interested in peace or not”.
It’s important to bear in mind that Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and continues to launch attacks across the country.
The Kremlin also denied reports there were plans for the US and Russia to hold talks in Saudi Arabia this week – something we touched on in our 9.40am post.
Russia is “trying to gain a foothold” in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, according to a border guard spokesperson.
Moscow’s forces have stepped up their pressure on Ukrainian troops holding Kursk in recent days.
The contested land could play an important role as a bargaining chip in any possible peace negotiations.
Seven months on from the initial cross-border assault, Russia has been “trying to gain a foothold” in Sumy.
Border guard spokesperson Andriy Demchenko told Ukrainian television: “We have recorded that in the direction of Novenke, the enemy is still trying to create a zone of active hostilities on the territory of Ukraine, trying to gain a foothold there.
“These are small assault groups, but such groups of several people are trying to enter our territory to accumulate and to later move deeper into the territory of Ukraine, including, most likely, to cut off logistical routes.”
Border guards were repelling the attacks using artillery to break up the attempted build-up of forces, Demchenko said.
Ukraine’s general staff also said that over the past day, its forces had repelled 27 attacks in the Kursk region.
In Sudzha, Russian forces captured three settlements after special forces crept for miles through a gas pipeline.
The expulsion of British diplomats this morning reflects how the UK can now be considered “public enemy number one” in Russia, Moscow correspondent Ivor Bennett says.
After the recent rapprochement between the US and Russia, Britain is now one of Russia’s most prominent opponents on the global stage.
Under Donald Trump, the US has warmed considerably to Moscow. At times, he has even echoed the Kremlin’s criticisms of Ukraine.
The expulsions today reflects the UK’s newfound position, Bennett says, and takes place within the wider context of a back-and-forth between Russia and Britain.
Bennett says: “It’s important to say this is not the first time British diplomats have been expelled from Russia. This is the third kind of expulsion we’ve seen in the last six months.
“It’s part of the wider ongoing exchange of expulsions that have been going on between Moscow and London for some years now.
“It comes after last week’s conviction in Britain of three Bulgarian nationals of spying for Russia, so we can see this as a response to that.”
He says the whole incident was “designed to create a spectacle”.
“It serves a purpose. That purpose is to cast Britain, and Europe more generally, as the enemy here out to attack Russia,” he added.
Read more on the Bulgarian spies here
Differing reports over possible US-Russia talks
Asked about the talks in Saudi Arabia this week and who was going for Russia, he says Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has disputed reports in the US media that more talks are set to go ahead between Washington and Moscow.
“Safe to say I think Russia couldn’t be happier with the way things have been going in the last few weeks. Without doing anything at all, Russia appears to have got what they want,” he adds.
Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, has called on “friends” to respect their allies a day after an extraordinary spat between one of his most senior ministers and the US and Elon Musk over Starlink technology.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio accused Poland’s foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski of “making things up” after he said Ukraine may need to find an alternative to Musk’s Starlink satellite service.
He also claimed Poland was not grateful enough – echoing a previous Trump criticism of Ukraine.
But today, without naming anyone, Tusk alluded to the row.
Sikorski reshared the post.
It came after Rubio claimed Ukraine would have “lost this war long ago” and Russia would have been at Poland’s border without Starlink.
Musk waded into the row, labelling Sikorski a “small man”.
The US has already frozen intelligence sharing with Ukraine – something we touched on earlier.
However, amid speculation Starlink might be replaced, shares in Franco-British satellite operator Eutelsat soared as much as 650% last week.
For context: Musk, a high-profile figure in the Trump administration, has mostly focused his attention domestically.
But on Sunday, he claimed Ukraine’s “entire front line would collapse if I turned it [Starlink] off”.
He later said he would “never turn off [Starlink’s] terminals”.
Starlink is a network of satellites that help bring vitally needed coverage to often more remote areas – including the war-hit Ukrainian frontline.
It was in response to Musk’s tweets that the Polish foreign minister made his comments – triggering the ire of Rubio.
The US pause on intelligence sharing with Ukraine has already cost lives, according to a former UK ambassador to Washington.
Sir Peter Westmacott told Wilfred Frost on the Breakfast Show that “quite a lot of people have lost their lives in Ukraine” because Kyiv’s defensive capabilities were hindered by the freeze.
The decision to halt sharing intelligence has left Ukraine’s air defences “less good than they were and more people have died in the last few days”, he said.
He added: “The air defence intelligence was very important in shooting down and stopping Russian attacks. Those people have already paid a price.”
We reported earlier in our 7.09am post that Donald Trump floated some good news around the intelligence pause potentially coming to an end.
Watch Westmacott’s interview on Ukraine, Trump and more below
Saudi Arabia and Turkey’s roles in the war in Ukraine
Westmacott also described Saudi Arabia as a “major player in the region” as it hosted mediation talks between the US and Ukraine this week.
Along with that, he said Turkey could potentially play an important role in any peacekeeping forces in Ukraine.
“Turkey is the second largest army in NATO, after the US, it’s almost next door, it has very good relations with Ukraine and Russia, I think if they were asked to, the Turks would be happy to play a role,” he told Sky News.
“After all, we haven’t got huge numbers of troops elsewhere in NATO to do this job,” he added.
Ukrainian MP Yulia Sirko-Klymenko has told Sky News what she hopes her country can get out of this week’s peace talks, as well as her fears of waning US support.
Despite Donald Trump so far refusing any security guarantees, Sirko-Klymenko said she was expecting the two sides to discuss them this week.
“Russia will not disappear tomorrow from our borders. We have to understand if it will be a ceasefire for a few months or for years and how we will live for that and what security guarantees we’ll have to protect Ukraine and to fight back if Russia decides to invade again,” she told Wilfred Frost on Sky News’ Breakfast.
She also described the “fear” Ukrainians had over the meetings, describing her country as “the frontline for Europe”.
Asked about the US intelligence pause, she outlined her hopes that Washington would commence sharing again, describing it as “the most painful part”.
She said: “We can survive without US weapons for some time, but we cannot survive without intelligence; we need it for air defence.
“It’s mostly for protecting civilians and not for the frontlines. We hope to restore it next week and this will be a major point of discussion in Saudi Arabia.”
We reported last night on Trump’s comments that Ukraine “may not survive” even with US help, but Sirko-Klymenko said her country had survived many wars and “we will survive this one”.
“But the problem is how many lives, innocent lives of civilians, we will lose. That is the main question. No one will stop fighting.”
Watch her full interview here
For context: The security guarantee has been a sticking point of peace talks so far.
For Ukraine, it is viewed as absolutely vital in preventing further Russian aggression.
However, in Washington, they have resisted committing to anything resembling a security guarantee or putting boots on the ground.
Instead, Trump has claimed an economic deal would act in the same way, tying Washington and Kyiv’s interests together.
Sir Keir Starmer has previously said a US backstop would be key.
Both Kyiv and Moscow launched drone attacks overnight, as Russian war bloggers claimed the country’s advance in Kursk continues.
Last summer, Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into Russian territory.
It seized 500 square miles (1,300 square km) of land in arguably its most significant counteroffensive into Russia since the invasion began.
But by mid-February, Russia had taken back at least 300 square miles (800 square km).
Then, in recent days, Russia has launched a major offensive from multiple directions to cut off Ukraine’s supply lines and potential routes of withdrawal.
Drone attacks overnight
Overnight, the Ukraine military said Russia had launched 176 drones.
It said it had shot down 130 of these and another 42 didn’t reach their targets, in a statement on Telegram.
It did not specify what happened to the remaining four drones.
Ukraine also attacked Russia’s southern region of Samara, according to media and authorities.
“There are no injuries,” Russia’s emergency ministry said on Telegram, citing early details of a fire in Novokuibyshevsk that it said was limited to an area of 1,600 square metres (17,000 square ft).
The RIA news agency said a warehouse was on fire and Russia’s air defence units were said to have destroyed three drones.
War bloggers report on Kursk
The war bloggers below are pro-Russian writers, but in the past have correctly reported on developments in the war.
The Two Majors war blogger claimed Russian forces had cleared Ivashkovsky and that Moscow’s units were advancing.
Yuri Podolyaka, a Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger, said that some Ukrainian units had become trapped in pockets in the Russian advance.
Another Russian blogger, close to the defence ministry, who goes by the name Rybar, also claimed that Moscow was advancing in the region.
On Sunday, Russian forces captured three settlements after special forces crept for miles through a gas pipeline in the town of Sudzha.
Watch that below:
Russia’s security service has said two British diplomats have been ordered to leave for “intelligence work”.
The FSB told state news agency TASS that both had deliberately given false information about themselves when entering the country.
The report adds the agency uncovered what it called “signs of intelligence and sabotage work”, which threatened national security.
A representative of the British embassy in Moscow has also been summoned to the Russian foreign ministry as a result.
There has been no immediate comment from the UK.
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