American and Ukrainian representatives are meeting in Saudi Arabia, but the United States, Ukraine and Russia envisage very different paths to peace.
Andrew E. Kramer and Alan Rappeport
Reporting from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Ukrainian and American officials were meeting in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for their first high-level meeting since an Oval Office shouting match between their presidents last month, in hopes of finding a way to halt the bloodiest European war in generations.
But the United States, Ukraine and Russia appear to have very different ideas about what any cease-fire should look like. And so two of the three took a step to try to bridge those gaps on Tuesday — hours after Ukraine and Russia launched deadly strikes on each other’s territory.
In a conference room at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in the city of Jeddah, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Michael Waltz, the U.S. national security adviser, sat down with a delegation from Kyiv led by Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
“We want to have very constructive, deep, friendly, partner conversation,” Mr. Yermak said before the talks began.
Emerging for a break after more than two hours of talks, Mr. Waltz said, “We’re getting there.” He did not provide further details.
Ukraine has proposed an immediate cessation of air and sea strikes, but wants security guarantees before its infantry lays down its arms. The United States is pressing for an immediate, comprehensive cease-fire. And Russia, which is not at the talks, has signaled that it wants concessions of its own before halting the war it started.
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