Envoys meet on Ukraine peace ‘framework’

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US envoy Steve Witkoff said Thursday he planned to travel to Saudi Arabia to speak to Ukrainian envoys about a ceasefire with Russia and a “framework” on a longer agreement.

“We’re now in discussions to coordinate a meeting with the Ukrainians in Riyadh, or even potentially Jeddah,” Witkoff told reporters.

“The idea is to get down a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire as well,” he said.

Witkoff said that President Donald Trump was pleased by a letter sent by President Volodymyr Zelensky in the wake of a verbal confrontation in the White House last Friday.

“He felt that Zelensky’s letter was a very positive first step. There was an apology. There was an acknowledgement that the United States has done so much for the country of Ukraine, and a sense of gratitude,” Witkoff said.

Trump and Vice President JD Vance at the meeting accused Zelensky of not thanking the US sufficiently for billions of dollars worth of weapons since Russia’s invasion in 2022.

Zelensky left without signing an agreement demanded by Trump in which Ukraine will hand over much of its mineral wealth to the US.

Asked if Ukraine would sign the deal during talks in Saudi Arabia, Witkoff said, “I think Zelensky has offered to sign it, and we’ll see if he follows through.”

Under attack

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s energy and gas infrastructure came “under massive missile and drone shelling” by Russia on Friday, a Ukrainian minister said.

“The energy and gas infrastructure in various regions of Ukraine is under massive missile and drone shelling again,” Energy Minister German Galushchenko said in a post on Facebook.

The latest air assault in the three-year conflict comes after European Union leaders, shaken by the prospect of US disengagement, agreed to boost the European bloc’s defenses at a crisis summit Thursday.

Four people were wounded in a strike on a “civilian infrastructure” in Kharkiv, including a woman pulled from the rubble alive and receiving medical treatment, the city’s mayor, Igor Terekhov, said in a post on Telegram Friday.

“A fire broke out at the scene of the impact. A nearby apartment building was also damaged,” Terekhov said, adding that its residents were being evacuated.

Kharkiv Governor Oleg Synegubov also said on Telegram that a Russian strike hit a private company in Kharkiv, and left cars on fire.

“A 65-year-old woman and a 61-year-old man were hospitalized,” Synegubov added.