Ukraine Update…Day 1,100…US/Ukraine Talks in Saudia Arabia….

• Russia launched airstrikes overnight on Kyiv, with air defence systems engaged in repelling the attack, Ukrainian authorities said late on Monday. “Air defence forces are working to eliminate the threat in the skies over Kyiv,” mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app. Reuters witnesses heard explosions in the capital and surrounding region that sounded like air defence systems in operation.

• Russian forces are trying to cross the border and gain a foothold in Ukraine’s Sumy province as they press ahead with a counteroffensiveaiming to eliminate the last of Kyiv’s position in the Russian Kursk region.

• Senior US and Ukrainian officials have arrived in Saudi Arabia for high-stakes meetings aimed at repairing a severely damaged relationship that has left Kyiv without Washington’s support. Ukraine’s delegation, led by Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, will meet the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and other senior White House officials on what is seen as neutral ground in the Saudi city of Jeddah.

• Zelenskyy has also flown to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the eve of separate, high-stakes meetingsbetween Ukrainian and US officials.

• The Ukrainian delegation will propose a ceasefire covering the Black Sea and long-range missile strikes, as well as the release of prisoners, two senior Ukrainian officials told the Associated Press. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly about Tuesday’s meeting, also told The AP that the Ukrainian delegation is ready during the talks to sign an agreement with the United States on access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals – a deal that US President Donald Trump is keen to secure.

• Zelenskyy said that Kyiv’s position in Tuesday’s talks in Saudi Arabia with US officials will be “fully constructive” and that he hopes for practical outcomes from the negotiations on ending the war. Zelenskyy said that a “significant” part of his talks was dedicated to the issue of security guarantees for Ukraine.

• The US opposes language that could harm its efforts to bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table, Rubio said on Monday, as Washington wrangled with G7 allies ahead of a meeting this week, further alarming them. The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven major democracies – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States – will meet in the river resort of La Malbaie, Quebec on Wednesday-Friday for the first time since President Donald Trump returned to power in January. “We feel like antagonistic language sometimes makes it harder to bring parties to the table, especially since we’re the only ones right now that seem to be in a position to make talks like that possible,” Rubio said.

• Canada had initially hoped the seven would agree on an overall statement ranging on the war in Ukraine and a second declaration that would outline the G7’s efforts to curb Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, according to four G7 diplomats who spoke to Reuters. The first statement would have included the Middle East and China, too. Shadow fleet refers to vessels used by Russia to move oil, arms and grains around in violation of international sanctions imposed on it over the war. The vessels are not regulated or insured by conventional western providers.

• Almost two pages out of eight in the last G7 statement in November were focused entirely on Ukraine, mostly taking aim at Russia. However, the diplomats said agreement on the full communique this time was proving very difficult, with some fearing that a compromise may not be found. Two diplomats said the United States was seeking to remove references to sanctions and Russia’s war in Ukraine, while demanding tougher language on China.

• A Democratic US senator who visited Ukraine recently said the Trump administration’s suspension of intelligence-sharing had lessened Kyiv’s defences against Russia, and dismissed Trump adviser Elon Musk calling him a “traitor.” “One hundred percent,” Senator Mark Kelly told reporters when asked if he had heard during his visit of specific attacks or incidents that would have been affected if Ukrainians had had the intelligence. “If there’s stuff they don’t get, that they need, that changes their ability to defend against attacks,” Kelly said. “And those attacks happened on Friday night, on Saturday, when I was there.” The Arizona senator did not provide further details.

• Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, plans a visit to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, a person briefed on the plans told Reuters. Witkoff, who is officially Trump’s Middle East envoy, has played a growing role in efforts to bring about an end to the Ukraine war.

• A luxurious superyacht that belonged to Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov may be headed to the auction block after a US judge on Monday dismissed a competing claim to ownership of the $300m vessel. Another wealthy Russian, Eduard Khudainatov, the former head of Russian state oil and gas company Rosneft, claimed in a New York court to be the rightful owner of the vessel but his claim was dismissed by District Judge Dale Ho….

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ISW…Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, March 10, 2025