Secretary of State Marco Rubio is on his way to Saudi Arabia today for discussions with Ukrainian officials.
The objective is to “further the President’s aim of ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” as stated by State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce.
Trump mentioned to reporters yesterday that he anticipates “positive outcomes” from Rubio’s discussions in Saudi Arabia and conveyed hope that Ukraine will finalize a minerals agreement with the United States.
The president reiterated his stance that the Ukrainian leadership has not adequately shown a willingness to resolve the war but indicated that this might change “within the next two or three days.”
“We are eager to do everything possible to encourage Ukraine to take decisive action,” Trump stated.
Last month, Rubio traveled to Saudi Arabia, initiating negotiations for a resolution to the conflict directly with Russian officials while initially excluding Ukrainian and European allies from the discussions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s disappointment at being left out of the negotiations sparked Trump’s anger. This frustration, along with Zelenskyy’s insistence that solid security guarantees be part of any U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal, led to a confrontation between the two leaders in the Oval Office last month, culminating in Trump halting military assistance and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
