🇺🇸🇸🇦🇷🇺 | U.S.-Russia Talks Begin in Saudi Arabia

Top Russian and U.S. officials met in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss bilateral relations, possible solutions for ending the war in Ukraine and preparations for a potential summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Russian state media published videos of the meeting as it began, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff seated across from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and senior Putin aide Yury Ushakov.

🔗 The Moscow Times

"Ukraine knew nothing about the talks in Saudi Arabia and will not recognize them," — Zelensky

🇪🇺🇺🇦 EU ambassadors will discuss a €5 billion military aid package for Ukraine tomorrow

The aid includes 1.5 million artillery shells, air defense systems, long-range precision missiles, drones, and support for rebuilding Ukrainian brigades, according to Radio Liberty.

Incompetence or malice?
@vatnikcope

🤡 "Now the US is ready to listen to Russia's position. And Biden's team did not seek to understand our concerns," — Dmitriev.

"Progress in the negotiations between Russia and the U.S. is possible in the next 2-3 months," he said.

The 28th Brigade of AFU continues to destroy Russian soldiers in the Donetsk region

U.S.-Russia talks on Ukraine, led by Marco Rubio and Sergey Lavrov, have begun in Riyadh, mediated by Saudi officials. No Ukrainian or European representatives are present.

Destruction of Shahed drones by Air Command "East"

🇪🇺🇩🇪 Armin Papperger, the head of Rheinmetall:

"If you do not invest in defense, you are weak, they [the U.S.] treat you like children. For the past 30 years, Europeans have just wanted to talk and spend only 1% of GDP on weapons."

A Leopard 1 A5 tank from a closed position works on the enemy in the village of Sontsivka

Destruction of Russian column by "OMEGA" unit.

Russian drone operators were tracked down via fiber optic cable and destroyed.

Over 10,000 applications for the 18-24 Contract have already been submitted via the app Reserve+, according to Defense Ministry spokesperson Dmytro Lazutkin.

Zelensky insists Ukraine’s NATO membership must remain on the table in peace talks, rejecting preemptive concessions.

Destruction of Russian T-90

US may now withdraw its troops from the Baltic countries amid negotiations with Russia, the Financial Times writes, citing unnamed officials.

🇩🇪🇺🇦 Germany has announced a new military aid package for Ukraine, including ammunition for Leopard tanks, Marder IFVs, IRIS-T and Gepard air defense systems, Zuzana howitzers, demining vehicles, artillery shells, and various types of drones.