Russia issues warning, following Ukraine’s drone attacks

Senior officials from Ukraine and the United States opened talks Tuesday focused on ending Moscow’s three-year war against Kyiv.

This comes hours after Russia shot down over 300 Ukrainian drones.

It was Ukraine’s biggest attack since the Kremlin ordered the full-scale invasion of its neighbour.

The talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah come after President Donald Trump paused U.S. military aid to Ukraine last week, along with some intelligence sharing.

This was in an attempt to pressure Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to engage in negotiations to end the war against Russia.

Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel later this week to Moscow, where he could meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

This is according to a person familiar with the matter but not authorized to comment publicly.

The person cautioned that scheduling could change.

Journalists were briefly allowed in a room where a senior Ukrainian delegation met with America’s top diplomat, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

When  asked about his expectations for the meeting, he smiled and gave a thumbs-up and replied, “Good.”

Across the table, Ukrainian officials, showed no facial expressions as the meeting got underway at a luxury hotel.

However, Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak told reporters that the most important thing was “how to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”

He said security guarantees were important to prevent Russia from invading again in the future.

It was the first meeting between the two sides since the Oval Office blowup between Trump and Zelenskyy last month.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister was also on hand as American, Saudi and Ukrainian flags could be seen in the background.

Officials did not answer any of the journalists’ shouted questions.

The delegations met for about three hours in the morning before taking a break and officials said the talks continued in the afternoon.

There was also no immediate comment from Ukrainian or U.S. officials on the massive attack in which 343 drones targeted 10 Russian regions.

The attack left three people dead and 18 wounded, including three children, officials said.

Russia has said that countries supporting Ukraine with war equipments are those responsible for the war.

It will not take lightly continued support to Ukraine to hit at Russia.

Meanwhile, according to the Ukranian air force, Russia launched 126 drones and a ballistic missile at Ukraine.

The lauch was part of Moscow’s relentless pounding of civilian areas during the war.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the United States will inform Russia about the results of the Jeddah talks.

Peskov described the talks as “normal practice.”

On the streets of Kyiv, Ukrainians kept an eye on the Saudi talks.

Lena Herasymenko, a psychologist, said she accepts that compromises and being “reasonable” will be necessary to end the war.

“We had massive losses during this war, and we don’t know yet how much more we’ll have.

“We are suffering every day. Our kids are suffering, and we don’t know how the future generation will be affected.”

Oleksandr, a Ukrainian soldier who could give only his first name because of security restrictions, warned that Ukraine cannot let its guard down.

“If there is a ceasefire, it would only give Russia time to increase its firepower, manpower, missiles and other arms.

Then they would attack Ukraine again,” he said.

THE ESSENCE OF THE TALKS

The meeting in Jeddah offered an opportunity for Kyiv officials to repair Ukraine’s relationship with the Trump administration.

It comes after an unprecedented argument erupted during Zelenskyy’s Feb. 28 visit to the White House.

Critically, Ukraine needs to persuade Washington to end the U.S. suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing after the blowout.

U.S. officials have said that positive talks in Jeddah could mean that the pause is short.

Ukrainian officials told AP on Monday that they will propose a ceasefire covering the Black Sea, which would bring safer shipping.

It will also bring about the release of prisoners.

The two senior officials said Kyiv is also ready to sign an agreement with the United States on access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals – a deal that Trump is keen to secure.

While traveling to Jeddah, Rubio said the U.S. delegation would not be proposing any specific measures to secure an end to the conflict.

It rather wanted to hear from Ukraine about what they would be willing to consider.

“I’m not going to set any conditions on what they have to or need to do.

“I think we want to listen to see how far they’re willing to go and then compare that to what the Russians want and see how far apart we truly are.” Rubio said.

Rubio said the rare earths and critical minerals deal could be signed during the meeting.

However, he stressed it was not a precondition for the United States to move ahead with discussions with either Ukraine or the Russians.

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