Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed reporters that the mineral deal, a priority for President Donald Trump, will not be the primary focus of the upcoming meeting with the Ukrainian delegation in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
Rubio stated to journalists aboard a flight to Saudi Arabia, “I am not making any assumptions about whether we will finalize a minerals deal tomorrow. It is an important matter but not the principal item on the agenda.
“The minerals deal is still under negotiation – it is not a focal point of this discussion,” he added, emphasizing that the meeting on Tuesday in Jeddah could be deemed successful even if the agreement is not reached.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks with the media on his military airplane as he flies to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, March 10, 2025. (Saul Loeb/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East who has increasingly been involved with the talks regarding Ukraine and Russia, told Fox News’ Dana Perino on “America’s Newsroom” Monday morning, that the Trump administration has “gone a long way” to “narrow the differences” when dealing with Moscow and to get it to the negotiating table – though he did not go into detail.
Witkoff suggested relations with Ukraine began to once again improve after Zelenskyy sent Trump a letter in which he apologized for the Oval Office exchange that went sour late last month after he refused to sign a mineral deal and angered the Trump administration – resulting in a series of explosive outbursts on live TV.
While a mineral deal is unlikely to be achieved this week, according to Rubio, he said he hopes that with a successful meeting in Jeddah, he can secure the resumption of aid to Ukraine, though he did not detail if this would include the defensive aid the Trump administration halted, despite Russia’s continued bombardment against Ukrainian targets, or the intelligence sharing which the U.S. also stopped following the Oval Office showdown.
“The pause in aid broadly is something I hope we can resolve,” Rubio said. “I think what happens tomorrow will be key to that.”
Trump and Zelensky were involved in an Oval Office shouting match. (Fox News )
Rubio also said that Russia will see its own consequences if it doesn’t agree to negotiate on ending the war in Ukraine, including additional sanctions.
“It should be clear to everyone that the United States has tools available to also impose costs on the Russian side of this equation,” Rubio said. “But we hope it doesn’t come to that.
“What we’re hoping is that both sides realize that this is not a conflict that can end by military means,” he added.
On Friday, in a posting on the Truth Social platform, Trump threatened Russia with “large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions and Tariffs,” until a ceasefire and peace settlement are reached.
