US and Ukraine hold first meeting since disaster White House talk and aid cuts

The US and Ukraine have sat down to hold peace talks in the hopes of ending the Ukraine-Russia war.

Ukraine and Russia have been fighting one another for over three years, after Vladimir Putin ordered troops to try and storm the country's capital of Kyiv in February 2022.

Their attempts to take over Kyiv have so far proved unsuccessful, but Russian forces have since occupied nearly 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory.

In the wake of the ongoing war, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, sat down with Donald Trump last month.

The duo met at the White House, with JD Vance and Marco Rubio also being present for the discussions.

The meeting quickly deceased into chaos, however, with Zelenskyy storming out of the White House after Trump accused him of 'gambling with World War 3'.

Zelenskyy has since penned a letter to Trump saying that he's ready to hold negotiations with the US regarding signing a huge minerals deal.

Now, senior officials from both countries have met with one another in Saudi Arabia today (March 11).

Zelenskyy and Trump are not present for the discussions. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading the American delegations, alongside s special envoy Steve Witkoff and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, CNBC reports.

Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha are there to represent Ukraine.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and National Security Advisor Mosaad bin Mohammad Al-Aiban are also on hand.

Discussions are being held in Saudi Arabia (SAUL LOEB/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

As the talks continue (at the time of writing), Waltz gave an update to reporters and said that the discussions are 'getting there', says CNN.

Elsewhere, Yermak said the meeting 'started very constructively'.

"The meeting with the US team started very constructively, and we are working to bring about a just and lasting peace," said the presidential chief of staff.

Speaking ahead of the meet, Rubio spoke of both Ukraine and Russia making concessions.

"We have to understand the Ukrainian position and just have a general idea of what concessions they'd be willing to make, because you're not going to get a ceasefire and an end to this war unless both sides make concessions," he explained, as per Reuters.

Marco Rubio is leading the US side of the negotiations (SAUL LOEB/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Today's talks in Saudi Arabia come after Russian air defences shot down more than 300 Ukrainian drones in the biggest such attack since the Kremlin ordered the full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

Three people are said to have been killed and 18 others injured, including three children, in the massive drone attack that spanned 10 Russian regions, officials said. No large-scale damage was reported.