UPDATE - Ukrainian president arrives in Saudi Arabia

UPDATES WITH BACKGROUNDS

By Ibrahim Khazen and Rania Abu Shamala

RIYADH (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday arrived in Saudi Arabia's city of Jeddah.

According to Saudi media, including the official Al-Ekhbariya channel, Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.​​​​​​​

On March 7, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff announced that Saudi Arabia would host a US-Ukrainian meeting next week to discuss the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The announcement follows a tense meeting between US President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy on Feb. 28 at the White House, where the two leaders engaged in a heated exchange in front of cameras.

The dispute led to the cancellation of a joint press conference, and Zelenskyy left the White House without signing an agreement on rare earth minerals, which Trump had demanded in exchange for US support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

On Feb. 18, Saudi Arabia hosted a historic meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Riyadh to discuss potential peace talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.