March 10 (UPI) -- Ahead of U.S.-Ukraine talks on the war with Russia, the United States expressed confidence Monday that Ukraine was "ready to move forward" on the White House's push for an early truce with U.S. President Donald Trump saying he was ready to "unfreeze" intelligence sharing if it would help focus minds in Kyiv.
A day before U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz arrived for the negotiations in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah, an unnamed State Department official told the BBC the fact the Ukrainians were sending a senior-level delegation was "a good indication to us that they want to sit down and they're ready to move forward."
While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was in Saudi Arabia for separate talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Ukraine team will be headed up by Zelensky's head of office, Andriy Yermak, and national security adviser Oleksandr Lytvynenko along with Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
Speaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump told reporters he had high hopes for the talks, saying he expected the Ukrainian side to demonstrate they were ready to end the war and that he wanted "them to want peace."
"I think everybody wants to see it get done. We're going to make a lot of progress and we'll see if we can get something done," said Trump adding that he believed Ukraine would sign a minerals deal giving U.S. firms access to a share of Ukraine's valuable natural resources.
He also said he was on the verge of lifting a freeze on sharing critical U.S. intelligence with Ukraine.
"We just about have. We want to do anything we can to get Ukraine serious about getting something done," Trump said just days after his administration cut both military and intelligence assistance in the wake of a combative Oval Office meeting in which Zelensky insisted on security guarantees in exchange for signing a deal giving U.S. firms access to Ukraine's valuable natural resources.
Waltz confirmed Wednesday that the United States was no longer passing on intelligence, saying it had "taken a step back and are pausing and reviewing all aspects of this relationship," adding that he expected "movement" [by the Ukrainian leadership] very soon afterward.