U.S. officials are planning to use Tuesday’s meeting with a Ukrainian delegation in Saudi Arabia in part to determine whether Ukraine is willing to make material concessions to Russia to end the war, according to two U.S. officials, writes Reuters.

The U.S. delegation will also be watching for signs that the Ukrainians are serious about improving ties with the Trump administration after a meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy devolved into an argument last month, said one of the officials, who requested anonymity to preview the closed-door talks.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will fly to Jeddah for the bilateral talks with Ukrainian officials, who will be led by Andriy Yermak, a top Zelenskiy aide. Rubio is expected to be joined by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.

Trump expressed optimism about the talks: “We’re going to make a lot of progress, I believe, this week”. Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address that he would travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday [March 10] to “continue to work for the sake of peace”. He added that he hopes that the talks between his team and U.S. officials will bring results: “This concerns both, bringing peace closer and continuing support”.