Zelensky discusses talks with US officials, front line in visits to the east

KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 22 that he had met top military commanders in the country’s north-east to discuss the front line in Ukraine’s war with Russia and meetings with US officials due to get under way in Saudi Arabia on March 23.

Mr Zelensky was shown on social media platform X with commanders in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, a frequent target of Russian attacks.

He said he discussed front-line sectors in Ukraine’s east as well as in western Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops remain seven months after a cross-border incursion.

“We also prepared for the meeting between the Ukrainian and American delegations, that will take place tomorrow in Saudi Arabia,” the President wrote.

In Washington, a source briefed on the planning of the meetings in Saudi Arabia with Ukrainian and Russian officials said the US side would be led by Mr Andrew Peek of the National Security Council and Mr Michael Anton of the State Department.

The group was to meet the Ukrainians on the night of March 23 and the Russians on March 24.

Mr Zelensky said on March 20 that Ukrainian officials would be present at the talks involving the United States and Russia, but would not be in the same room as Russia.

Russian and US experts are due to discuss ways to ensure the safety of shipping in the Black Sea at talks on a possible peace settlement when in Saudi Arabia on March 24, the Kremlin said.

Mr Zelensky agreed to a partial ceasefire on energy targets that has been brokered by Washington. The President said he would draw up a list of facilities that could be subject to the ceasefire.

Ukrainian officials first met US officials in Saudi Arabia earlier in March.

Earlier on March 22, Mr Zelensky visited Ukraine’s Donetsk region, where he met commanders of drone units near the strategic eastern city of Pokrovsk.

Ukrainian troops have for months been fending off Russian assaults around the city, where Moscow’s forces have been slowly advancing to try to eventually capture the entire region. The governor of Donetsk region said on March 22 that three people had been killed in Russian shelling of Pokrovsk.

“I visited the command post of the Tactical Group Pokrovsk and met with the commanders of the Drone Line, which united the finest unmanned systems units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Mr Zelensky wrote on X.

“I received a report on the defence of the Pokrovsk direction, the operational situation, and the progress of the missions. I honoured our warriors with state awards.”

Drones have transformed warfare since the start of Russia’s February 2022 invasion, and Ukraine has sought to elevate drone units and boost domestic production.

In March, Kyiv’s Defence Ministry said it would purchase around 4.5 million first-person-view drones in 2025, mostly from domestic producers, more than doubling 2024’s rate. REUTERS