Zelenskyy confirms that Ukraine's defence minister will take part in Saudi Arabia talks
Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umierov will take part in talks between the technical teams of Ukraine and the United States in Saudi Arabia on 24 March.
Source: Zelenskyy during a joint press conference with Czech President Petr Pavel, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine
Quote: "The team will be at a fairly high level, they are technically professional people, the defence minister will also be there as well, and I think we will be ready to be very prompt and very substantive."
Details: Answering journalists' questions regarding the potential of signing agreements or arrangements in Saudi Arabia, the president said he couldn't predict how the talks would conclude, but "it would be good if the meeting ended with some result that could bring us closer to a complete ceasefire".
Background:
- Following a meeting in Saudi Arabia on 11 March, Ukraine agreed to an immediate 30-day ceasefire provided that Russia agrees to the same terms.
- On 13 March, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin reacted cautiously to the US proposal for a ceasefire. While not rejecting it outright, he hinted that Moscow could impose its own conditions on any agreement.
- As of now, the Kremlin claims that it is complying with the agreement to temporarily cease attacks by its forces only on energy infrastructure in Ukraine.
- On the night of 20-21 March alone, the Russians attacked Ukraine with 214 Shahed-type strike drones and various types of decoy drones. Particularly, the city of Odesa came under a large-scale attack. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, reported local emergency power outages in Odesa’s Prymorskyi, Peresyp and Kyiv districts.
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