The US may resume its military and intelligence support for Ukraine if the latter commits to a peace process during a high-stakes meeting on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, said Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The initial suspension of aid “came about because we felt the Ukrainians were not committed” to negotiations to repel Russia’s invasion, but if that changes, US policy will probably change, too, he said on Monday as he landed in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.
“My hope is we’ll have a really good meeting tomorrow and be in a different place,” he added. Rubio’s meeting will be his first with senior Ukrainian officials since the Oval Office blow-up between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that resulted in the aid being cut off.
The decision stunned Ukrainian officials and alarmed US allies in Europe who are desperately hoping for the talks to restore US-Ukrainian relations, as Russian attacks has continued to hit government and residential buildings across Ukraine.
Ahead of Rubio’s arrival in Jeddah, US officials said they were pleased at the high-level delegation Zelensky chose to send. “The fact that they’re coming here at senior levels is a good indication to us that they want to sit down, and they’re ready to move forward,” a senior State Department official said on the condition of anonymity.
The Ukrainian delegation will be led by Zelensky’s top aide, Andriy Yermak, alongside Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and deputy head of the presidential office Pavlo Palisa. Rubio will be joined by White House national security adviser Michael Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
Though Zelensky too will be in Saudi Arabia to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, but he is not expected attend the US-Ukraine meeting.
On Sunday, when asked whether he would consider lifting the intelligence pause, Trump said “we just about have. I mean, we really just about have, and we want to do anything we can to get Ukraine to be serious about getting something done.”
Rubio clarified that the Ukrainians are “already receiving defensive intelligence information as we speak. The pause in aid broadly is something I hope we can resolve, obviously what happens tomorrow will be key to that,” he added.