Top Ukrainian officials meet Saudi defense minister in Riyadh

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Top Ukrainian officials met with Saudi Arabia’s defense minister in the country’s capital Riyadh on Wednesday amid a series of international talks set to take place in the coming days.

Head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office Andriy Yermak wrote on Telegram that he and National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov met with Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and discussed ways to achieve lasting peace for Ukraine and Riyadh’s participation in this process.

Yermak further said that they also met with Saudi Minister of State Musaad al-Aiban and exchanged views on the topic regarding security guarantees for Ukraine.

He went on to say that Saudi Arabia plays a leading role in peacemaking initiatives for Ukraine, which he noted included the meeting between delegations from Ukraine and the US in Jeddah in March.

“Ukraine is extremely grateful for Saudi Arabia's determined desire to contribute to achieving a sustainable and just peace for our country,” Yermak added.

A day earlier, Yermak and Umerov held talks in Doha with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy named Türkiye, as well as Gulf and European states, as potential platforms for talks with Russia.

Yermak defined his and Umerov’s visit to Qatar as the “first part of our international visit.”

Earlier Wednesday, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the plans, that the two Ukrainian officials will meet US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff “this week.”

According to the report, the agenda of the talks is to focus on security assurances for Kyiv and a potential bilateral meeting between Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow argues that potential high-level meetings, especially such as the one between Putin and Zelenskyy, must be “very well prepared.”

Kyiv, for its part, declared readiness to engage in direct talks in a leaders format, arguing that this will be necessary to resolve the key issues in ending the Russia-Ukraine war.