Zelenskyy to travel to Saudi Arabia before peace talks begin – DW – 03/10/2025

The UK has accused Russia of making “baseless” accusations after Moscow expelled two diplomats for spying.

Russia said the diplomats had given false information to gain entry into Russia.

The tit-for-tat exchange comes as relations between the UK and the rest of Europe continue to strain over support for Ukraine.

Both the UK and France have said they would be willing to send troops to uphold any ceasefire in Russia’s war with Ukraine, angering Moscow.

Russian forces advanced further into Kursk on Monday, according to military bloggers.

Ukraine pushed into the western Russian region last August, hoping to use its incursion as a bargaining chip for taking back Ukrainian territory from Russia and improving its hand in potential ceasefire talks.

But Ukrainian troops have faced many challenges since then and have struggled to hold on to parts of Kursk.

Ukraine’s army said Sunday that Russian forces used a gas pipeline to launch a surprise raid in one area .

Russia’s Defense Ministry also on Sunday said its forces had captured four settlements in a couple of days.

A Russian war blog, Two Majors, said Russian forces had cleared the settlement of Ivashkovsky and Russian units were advancing on the so-called “cauldron” in Kursk from at least seven directions.

Yuri Podolyaka, a Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger, said he was having trouble keeping up with events as the Russian advance was so swift. He said Ukrainian units were trapped in several pockets in Kursk.

“Over the past four days, Russian troops have cleared as much territory in the Kursk region as they sometimes could not even clear in a couple of months,” said a Russian blogger close to the Defense Ministry who goes by the name Rybar.

“The front has been pierced,” said Rybar, adding that Russian forces were curling up inside the Ukrainian border to cut off the main roads leading out of Kursk to Ukraine’s Sumy region. 

The UK is advising Ukraine on how to manage peace talks ahead of a meeting between US and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia, according to British media reports.

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s national security adviser Jonathan Power over the weekend, according to The Times.

Alex Norris, UK parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Housing, said on a TV show on Sky News that his country’s role was to ensure that Ukraine is in the “strongest position possible,” when asked about the report.

Russia stepped up ground and air attacks on Ukraine after the US said it was halting sharing intelligence with Kyiv.

Russia sees restoring ties with the US as a long, hard task but believes there is political will on both sides to move forward, the Kremlin said.

“We are at the initial stage of the path to restoring our bilateral relations. The road ahead is quite long and difficult, but at least the two presidents have expressed political will in this direction,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Peskov said it was important to determine whether Ukraine, which is due to hold diplomatic talks with US officials beginning Tuesday in Saudi Arabia about how to end the war in the country, really wanted peace or not.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy said he is willing to negotiate a peace deal with Russia as soon as possible, but is seeking guarantees from the US and Europe to underpin the future security of his country. 

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy has said his country “has been seeking peace since the very first second of the war, and we have always said that the only reason that the war is continuing is because of Russia.”

The Ukrainian leader is set to arrive in Saudi Arabia late Monday to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. 

American and Ukrainian officials are then set for meetings in Saudi Arabia to discuss a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. 

American officials will use the talks to decide whether Kyiv is interested in a “realistic” peace deal, one of them told Reuters news agency.

They are also interested to see whether talks will repair the Ukrainian leader’s relations with US President Donald Trump.

Zelenksyy will not be present for talks set for the week.

Following an online dispute between Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and his US counterpart Marco Rubio on the social media platform X, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk, without naming names, called for “respect” among friends.

The dispute broke out over the use of Starlink internet services in Ukraine, which Poland pays for. Starlink is owned by Elon Musk, the billionaire and close ally of Donald Trump.

Rubio lashed out at Sikorski after the Polish minister suggested switching to a different provider if Starlink becomes unreliable.

The US Secretary of State said Sikorski was “making things up” and told him to “say thank you,” pointing to the important role Starlink has played in Ukraine.

The Polish prime minister’s intervention on Monday appeared to admonish Rubio.

“True leadership means respect for partners and allies. Even for the smaller and weaker ones. Never arrogance. Dear friends, think about it,” Tusk said in a post, also on X.

Musk has also been involved in the spat, calling Sikorski a “small man” and saying he would never turn off Starlink services in Ukraine, despite the Trump administration already having suspended military aid and information sharing with Kyiv.

Poland pays $50 million (€46 million) to keep Ukraine’s Starlink service running. Franco-British satellite operator Eutelsat saw its shares jump 650% last week amid speculation that Poland and Ukraine may be considering a switch.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has denied reports that Russian and US officials would meet for talks in Saudi Arabia this week.

Zakharova said a meeting was “not planned” and that Russia had not received any information from the US side, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

The Trump administration provoked anger among US allies, including Ukraine, after the US president opened up direct communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has had a public falling out with Trump, was on his way to Saudi Arabia on Monday to hold talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Russia’s FSB security service on Monday said two UK “diplomats” were being expelled, accusing them of carrying out espionage activities.

The two individuals in question are the UK’s second secretary and the husband of the first secretary.

The FSB said “counterintelligence work had revealed an undeclared British intelligence presence under the cover of the national embassy.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry also said it had summoned the representative of the UK Embassy in Moscow.

Kyiv said on Monday that Russia had fired 176 drones at Ukraine overnight.

The Ukrainian air force reported that it had shot down 130 drones in a statement on Telegram.

Another 42 did not reach their targets, the military added.

It wasn’t immediately apparent what happened to the remaining four drones.

Ukraine has continued to target sites inside of Russia even after the US under President Trump suspended military aid and intelligence sharing.

An overnight attack hit a warehouse in Russia’s Samara region, authorities said on Monday. Firefighters were reportedly tackling a blaze there.

“There are no injuries,” Russia’s Emergency Ministry said on the Telegram messaging app. It said the fire was in Novokuibyshevsk and that it was limited to an area of 1,600 sqm (17,000 sq ft).

Andriy Kovalenko, an official of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said that an oil refinery had been hit in Novokuibyshevsk.

The Russian Defense Ministry added that three drones had also been shot down over Samara.

The reports could not be independently verified.

The Samara region lies in the southeast of the European part of Russia, far from the border with Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump said his administration has “just about” lifted an intelligence blackout on Ukraine.

He also said he expects good results from US talks with Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia.

“We’re going to make a lot of progress, I believe, this week,” Trump said.

The US president said he thought Ukraine would sign a minerals agreement with the United States.

“They will sign the minerals deal but I want them to want peace… They haven’t shown it to [the] extent they should,” he added.

Trump also said that his administration is looking at a lot of things regarding tariffs on Russia and that they are not concerned about military exercises involving Russia, China and Iran.

US officials plan to meet with a Ukrainian delegation in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

Ukraine is now the world’s largest arms importer, more than three years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Ukraine now accounts for 8.8% of the total volume of imports of heavy weapons, taking into account weapons such as tanks, fighter jets, submarines and the like.

On a five-year basis, India ranks second with 8.3%, followed by Qatar with 6.8%, Saudi Arabia with 6.8% and Pakistan with 4.6%.

According to the SIPRI report, at least 35 countries have contributed to Ukraine’s arms imports, with the United States accounting for 45%, followed by Germany with 12% and Poland with 11%.

The SIPRI data refer to the volume of arms deliveries, not to their financial value. Since this volume can fluctuate greatly from year to year, the researchers compare five-year periods, in this case 2020 24 with 2015-19.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet the country’s crown prince, and his team would stay on to hold talks with the United States. 

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was on his way to Saudi Arabia for the talks due to start on Tuesday. 

After a dispute involving Zelenskyy, US President Donald Trump, and Vice President JD Vance, Washington announced the suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

It is hoped the talks could help reset relations.