Key points
- Rubio heads to Saudi Arabia
- US to see if Ukraine ready for peace talks
- Nobody really has the cards: Trump
ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump has said, “some very big things can happen this week”, while commenting on US-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia.
During a gaggle aboard the Air Force One, he said he was optimistic about the results.
Trump, asked separately about the hopes for a quick resolution, told reporters Sunday: “I think we’re going to have a good result in Saudi Arabia… we have a lot of good people going out there.
“And I think Ukraine’s going to do well, and I think Russia is going to do well. I think some very big things could happen this week. I hope so.”
When asked if he would consider lifting the intel pause on Ukraine, Trump said the US had.
Defensive intelligence
President Donald Trump said the US has “just about” lifted the intelligence pause on Ukraine, adding that his administration has to do anything it can to get Ukrainians serious about making a deal to end the war with Russia, Fox News reported.
“You know, I say they don’t have the cards. Nobody really has the cards,” Trump told reporters.
“Russia doesn’t have the cards…What you have to do is you have to make a deal, and you have to stop the killing. It’s a senseless war, and we’re going to get it stopped.”
Fox News Digital reported that the US was continuing to share some defensive intelligence with Ukraine to protect it against incoming Russian strikes.
Russia doesn’t have the cards…What you have to do is you have to make a deal, and you have to stop the killing. It’s a senseless war, and we’re going to get it stopped.” – US President Donald Trump
Federal intelligence, the work of the CIA, FBI and human intelligence, and data that helps with offensive Ukrainian strikes against Russia had already been paused.
When asked how Ukraine should show it wants peace, Trump said they have not shown it to the extent he thinks they should.
“I think right now they haven’t, but I think they will be, and I think it’s going to become evident over the next two or three days,” the president said, adding that we have to have peace over anything.
“This week, hundreds of people died in cities in Ukraine, and we got to get it stopped. It would have never happened if I was president.”
Rubio heads to Saudi Arabia
Separately, on Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio set off to fly to Saudi Arabia for talks with Ukraine.
Rubio will then travel on to Group of Seven (G7) talks in Canada, making him the first major US official to visit since Trump returned to office, launched a trade war with the neighbouring country and mocked its sovereignty, according to AFP.
In three days of talks in Jeddah, Rubio will discuss how to “advance the president’s goal to end the Russia-Ukraine war,” said State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce.
The talks in Jeddah on Tuesday are expected to involve Rubio and Trump’s national security advisor, Mike Waltz, with Zelensky’s national security advisor and foreign and defence ministers.
“Ready to move forward”
“The fact that they are coming here at senior levels is a good indication to us that they want to sit down and they’re ready to move forward,” a senior State Department official said.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is also expected in Saudi Arabia, but to pay a visit to Riyadh and not to participate directly in the Jeddah talks.
