EU leaders rallied around Ukraine and agreed to boost the bloc’s defences at a crisis summit Thursday, as Washington said talks with Kyiv were back on track to secure a ceasefire with Russia.
Ukraine’ President Volodymyr Zelensky went to Brussels a week after his White House blow-up with US President Donald Trump led to Washington cutting off military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv.
Zelensky has since scrambled to mend fences and the US envoy on the Russia-Ukraine conflict announced new negotiations were planned.
Declaring himself pleased by Zelensky’s “apology”, US envoy Steve Witkoff said he planned to travel to Saudi Arabia to speak to Ukrainian negotiators about an “initial ceasefire” with Russia and a “framework” for a longer agreement.
In Kyiv, a senior official said Ukrainian and US delegations were expected to meet Tuesday in Riyadh. Witkoff said the meeting would take place in Riyadh or Jeddah.
Zelensky told EU leaders that Ukrainian and American negotiators had “resumed work”. “We hope that next week we will have a meaningful meeting,” he said.