Witkoff on upcoming meeting with Ukraine: We aim to agree on framework for peace agreement

He noted that the letter from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to US President Donald Trump, following their dispute last week, was a positive step.

"We are now in discussion to coordinate a meeting with the Ukrainians in Riyadh or even potentially Jeddah. So the city is moving around a little bit, but it will be Saudi Arabia. And I think the idea is to get down a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire as well," Witkoff added.

The US special envoy also noted that he had never heard that Russia was against the deployment of a European contingent in Ukraine. He said he had heard about NATO, and that it was a topic of discussion. He believed that they were achieving the goal of having many strong supporters among both Russians and Ukrainians, and that this was the most important thing - to bring the two sides closer together in order to continuously narrow the gap.

Witkoff added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has promised to sign a minerals deal with the US.

"We’ll see if he follows through," he added.

Meeting of Ukrainian and US teams in Saudi Arabia

Yesterday, on March 5, the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, agreed with the US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz to hold a meeting between Ukrainian and American officials.

Today, on March 6, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that such a meeting would take place next week.

The media reported that the meeting would take place in Saudi Arabia on March 12. The American delegation will include US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Waltz.

Ukraine will be represented by the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak.