WASHINGTON >> Senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials are planning to meet next week to discuss the first steps of a deal that could seek an end to the war in Ukraine, after a week of U.S. moves casting doubt on its support for the country.

Both President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine confirmed the meeting, which is expected to take place in Saudi Arabia.

The planned meeting was announced just under a week after an Oval Office blowup between the two leaders in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance attacked Zelenskyy as ungrateful for U.S. support and threatened to abandon Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s 3-year-old invasion. Trump later paused all military aid to Ukraine.

Since then, Zelenskyy has expressed regret in general terms over how that meeting went, and both sides have showed willingness to sign a deal in which the United States would share in revenue from Ukraine’s mineral resources.

“Ukrainian and American teams have resumed work, and we hope that next week we will have a meaningful meeting,” Zelenskyy said in a statement Thursday.

Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would send a delegation to meet with “military representatives of countries that are ready to make greater efforts to reliably guarantee security within the framework of ending this war.” He said the meeting was scheduled for Tuesday but did not specify who would attend.

Meeting with Russia

Russian officials met last month with top Trump officials in Saudi Arabia, as Russia has signaled an openness to talks, though it has not said if it would accept a ceasefire or an agreement to end the war. Ukrainian officials said at the time that they should have been included.

There remains significant doubt among European leaders as to whether they can serve as the ultimate security backstop for Ukraine if America abandons the war-torn country. The Trump administration also suspended intelligence sharing with Ukraine this week in a bid to pressure Ukraine to negotiate on its terms, although it has not outlined any specific peace plan.

Outside the White House on Thursday, Steve Witkoff, the Trump administration’s special envoy to the Middle East, verified that the negotiations would take place in Saudi Arabia.

“We are now in discussions to coordinate a meeting with the Ukrainians in Riyadh or even potentially Jeddah; the city is moving around a little bit,” Witkoff said. He added, “The idea is to get down a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire as well.”

Witkoff said Zelenskyy’s comments after the Oval Office showdown, praising the strength of Trump’s leadership, had helped Ukraine’s standing with America. Last Friday, Trump and Vance lectured the Ukrainian president for not showing enough gratitude for the U.S.’s more than $100 billion in military support.

“(Trump) felt that Zelenskyy’s letter is a very positive first step,” Witkoff said, adding, “President Zelenskyy has demonstrated that he’s intent on that good-faith path back. He’s apologized. He’s said he’s grateful. He said he wants to work toward peace.” Witkoff added that he believed Zelenskyy was willing to sign a minerals deal to create a U.S.-controlled fund that would receive revenue from Ukraine’s natural resources.

What Ukraine wants

At next week’s meeting, Zelenskyy said the Ukrainians would insist on a number of commitments from Russia to test whether a lasting peace could ultimately be reached. Those demands include Russian pledges not to attack Ukraine’s energy or other civilian infrastructure; a truce for missiles, bombs and long-range drones; and no military operations in the Black Sea.

“Ukrainians truly want peace, but not at the cost of giving up Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said. “The real question for any negotiations is whether Russia is capable of giving up the war.”

Moscow has given no public indication it would accept any truce, ceasefire or end to the war it launched three years ago. But Witkoff said Russia had shown openness to continuing discussions.

Of the talks with Ukraine, Witkoff said, “Hopefully, that will be a good signal to the Russians, because they have been proactive too in wanting to get something done here.”

Trump’s comments

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump noted that France was willing to put soldiers in Ukraine “for safety reasons”; the country has suggested assembling a European peacekeeping force after the war’s end. He also said that U.S. negotiators had “made a lot of progress with Ukraine and a lot of progress with Russia over the last couple of days.”

He expressed optimism about an eventual peace agreement as well.

“I think what’s going to happen is Ukraine wants to make a deal because I don’t think they have a choice,” Trump said. “I also think that Russia wants to make a deal because in a certain different way — a different way that only I know, only I know — they have no choice.”