00:00Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that talks with U.S. officials aimed at bringing
00:06the war in his country to an end will resume in Saudi Arabia next week.
00:11In a statement on his official Telegram channel, the Ukrainian leader announced that he'll
00:15be flying to Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
00:21After the meeting, a Ukrainian delegation will stay behind to participate in the talks.
00:26The dramatic turn in tide comes just one week after a highly tense meeting between
00:30Zelensky and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump soured U.S.-Ukrainian relations.
00:37The meeting ended in a shouting match in the Oval Office, and in the days that followed,
00:41Washington suspended military and financial aid to Kiev, as well as intelligence sharing.
00:47But U.S. officials have reason to believe that Ukraine is now ready to meaningfully
00:51engage.
00:52President Zelensky sent a letter to the President.
00:55I think the President thought that it was a really good, positive first step.
01:01And from that, we are now in discussions to coordinate a meeting with the Ukrainians in
01:08Riyadh or even potentially Jeddah.
01:10I think the idea is to get down a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire
01:17as well.
01:19Whitkoff added that Zelensky apologized for the events that transpired, hinting that this
01:23may be the reason behind Washington's shift in approach.
01:27But in a separate press briefing, Trump claimed that Ukraine wants to make a deal out of need,
01:32not choice, and without elaborating much, said the same about Russia.
01:37I think what's going to happen is Ukraine wants to make a deal because I don't think
01:42they have a choice.
01:43I also think that Russia wants to make a deal because in a certain different way, a different
01:48way that only I know, only I know, they have no choice either.
01:53The talks in Saudi come after a special European Council session was held in Brussels on Thursday,
01:58which Zelensky attended.
02:00European leaders explored ways to bolster Ukraine's defenses and guarantee Kiev and
02:05continental security as the threat of an increasingly Europe-critical Washington looms.
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