Ukraine and US delegations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, March 11, 2025 (AP/Getty)

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Trump Report — Education, Ukraine, and “Elbows Up” Canada

Sunday’s Coverage: Zelensky Visits the Frontline in the East

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1706 GMT:

In an interview with Time magazine, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has said:

I believe Russia has managed to influence some people on the White House team through information. Their signal to the Americans was that the Ukrainians do not want to end the war, and something should be done to force them.

Zelensky’s comments come after Donald Trump’s envoy, real estate developer Steve Witkoff, amplified the Kremlin’s propaganda in an interview with far-right polemicist Tucker Carlson.

Unable to name four Ukrainian regions that Russia has seized and occupied, Witkoff denied Moscow’s aggressive intent: “They reclaimed these five regions. They have Crimea, and they’ve gotten what they want. So why do they need more?”

He repeated Vladimir Putin’s declarations justifying “annexation”, including Russia’s sham elections in the regions: “They are Russian-speaking, and there have been referendums where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule.”

And he transmitted Putin’s that he “went to his local church and met with his priest and prayed” for Trump after an assassination attempt, “not because he…could become the President of the United States, but because he had a friendship with him”.

The envoy said Trump was “clearly touched” by Putin’s story.

UPDATE 1426 GMT:

At least 88 civilians, including 17 children, have been injured by a Russian missile attack on an industrial facility in Sumy city in northeast Ukraine.

The strike damaged a school and several high-rise buildings in a residential area.

Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal commented:

UPDATE 1113 GMT:

At least four civilians were killed and 13 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Air defenses intercepted 57 of 99 Russian drones launched overnight. Another 36 were lost to electronic counter-measures.

In the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, two residents were killed and two injured.

In the Sumy region in the north, two civilians were slain and another wounded. A house was destroyed and an educational institution damaged.

Other casualties were reported in the Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, and Kherson regions.

UPDATE 1104 GMT:

Ukraine Presidential advisor Serhii Leshchenko says Sunday’s technical talks with the US in Saudi Arabia focused on infrastructure and shipping safety,.

The discussion concerned a mutual ceasefire: we won’t attack their [Russian] facilities at sea and rivers, and they won’t attack our facilities, our Kherson and Mykolaiv ports, the Greater Odesa ports.”

US discussions with a Russian delegation began this morning in Riyadh.

UPDATE 0732 GMT:

Ukraine’s special forces have destroyed four Russian helicopters in the Belgorod region in western Russia.

Russian forces had reportedly established a landing site for the helicopters — two Ka-52s and two Mi-8s — for rapid airborne operations and surprise attacks.

The Ukrainian military said it used missiles, including those from a US-supplied HIMARS rocket launcher, for their strikes.

Once again, (Russia) thought deep rear positions were unattainable. We proved that nothing is out of reach for Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces.

UPDATE 0639 GMT:

An overnight Russian drone attack on the Kyiv region has injured a 37-year-old man.

Two private houses were damaged and a fire set at a commercial enterprise.

Christopher Miller of the Financial Times posted:

A reminder of the father and 5-year-old daughter killed early Sunday in Russia’s drone strikes:

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed “quite useful” technical talks with a US delegation in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

The discussions precede separate American meetings with Ukrainian and Russian officials, over a possible ceasefire halting Russia’s 37-month full-scale invasion, in Riyadh today.

In his nightly address to the nation, Zelensky said:

Our team is working in a fully constructive manner, and the discussion is quite useful….

But no matter what we’re discussing with our partners right now, Putin must be pushed to issue a real order to stop the strikes —because the one who brought this war must be the one to take it back.

The President also noted Russia’s latest deadly attacks on Ukraine’s civilians, including the killing of three people — among them, a father and his 5-year-old daughter — in Kyiv early Sunday.

There must be more pressure on Russia to stop this terror. And that depends on all our partners — the U.S., Europe, and others around the world.

After the last meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, it has become absolutely clear to the entire world: Russia is the only one dragging this war out, the only one that brought it here — and the only one who needs it to continue.

Will Russia Maintain Its Ultimata?

Earlier on Sunday, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov posted, “We have concluded our meeting with the American team. The discussion was productive and focused — we addressed key points including energy.”

As Trump Administration officials declared that they wanted a full ceasefire agreement by Easter, April 20, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said the US is discussing confidence-building measures. They include the future of Ukrainian children deported to Russia and exchanges of prisoners.

He referred to the Ukraine-US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire on attacks from the air, at sea, and on land — rejected by Vladimir Putin — and a Black Sea agreement to allow “both sides [to] move grain, fuel, and start conducting trade again”

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dampened any hope that Russia would ease its demands, including long-term recognition of its seizure of 25% of its neighbor; the remainder of Ukraine weak, “neutral”, and demilitarized with no security guarantees from partners; and the lifting of sanctions on Moscow.

Peskov told State TV that “difficult negotiations” lie ahead: “We are only at the beginning of this path.”

He said the “main” focus in talks with the US is a possible resumption of a 2022 Black Sea grain deal, brokered by Turkey and the UN, that suspended a Russian blockade trying to break Kyiv’s food supplies and exports.

Putin ripped up the deal in 2023. However, Ukraine was able to break the blockade, destroying or damaging one-third of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, and a safe corridor was established in the western part of the waterway.

The Russian leader is dragging out peace negotiations, so he can seize as much Ukrainian territory as possible and get an upper hand over Kyiv in relations with the US, said “four sources familiar with the Kremlin’s thinking”.

“Time is currently on our side, and we’ll try to make the most of it,” said a Russian diplomat.

A “Kremlin-linked official” explained that Putin has to confirm his “annexation” of four Ukrainian regions — Donetsk and Luhansk in the east and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south — as well as the Crimea peninsula.

The official said Putin cannot afford to abandon his claim after enshrining it in the Russian Constitution, even though Ukraine controls part of Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.

We need all of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. Either Trump influences them to leave, or we’re told [by the Kremlin]: “Enter into long negotiations and simply use military force to establish control.”

That’s the worst option for us, because river crossings are always painful operations.