Saudi crown prince meets Zelensky, Rubio

The SPA said on social media platform X that the Saudi crown prince received the Ukrainian president at the Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah, where an official reception ceremony was held. The two leaders also held formal talks.

Zelensky arrived in the Saudi coastal city earlier on Monday, ahead of US-Ukraine talks.

"On Monday, I am scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia to meet with the Crown Prince (Mohammed bin Salman). After that, my team will remain in Saudi Arabia to work with our American partners," the Kiev-based Ukrainian News Agency quoted Zelensky as saying on Friday.

Also on Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Jeddah and met with the Saudi crown prince.

According to a previous statement by the US State Department, Rubio will stay in Jeddah from Monday to Wednesday and meet with a Ukrainian delegation "to advance the President (Trump)'s goal to end the Russia-Ukraine war."

According to Al-Arabiya, when speaking to reporters on the flight, Rubio expressed optimism about the upcoming meeting with the Ukrainian delegation, although he added that there were still more details to be worked out on the minerals deal between the US and Ukraine.

The upcoming Ukraine-US meeting, reportedly on Tuesday, follows a rare shouting match at the White House between US President Donald Trump and Zelensky in late February, which led to the cancellation of a bilateral minerals agreement and the subsequent suspension of US military aid to Ukraine.