BLOGONITY

SARAJEVO — Bosnian state prosecutors on Wednesday ordered the arrest of Russian-backed Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik and his aides for ignoring a court summons, raising the stakes in a standoff that threatens the Balkan country’s stability. The decision was taken two weeks after a separate case in which Dodik was sentenced to a year in jail for defying the rulings of an international peace envoy, a spokesperson from the state security agency, SIPA, said. Prosecutors have sought the help of Bosnia’s State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) in the arrest, which comes after Dodik and aides ignored a court summons. It was not clear if the plan was to detain Dodik or to accompany him to answer the summons. The state prosecutors’ office was investigating Dodik, the pro-Russian nationalist president of Bosnia’s autonomous Serb Republic, for what it described as an attack on constitutional order after he initiated the adoption of laws barring state judiciary and police from the region after his sentencing. “We have received a request from the court police of Bosnia and Herzegovina to assist them,” SIPA spokeswoman Jelena Miovcic said. Serb Republic television, citing the regional government, reported that the state prosecution has also ordered the arrest of Serb Republic Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic and regional parliament president Nenad Stevandic over ignoring summons in the case of the attack on constitutional order. The Serb Republic is one of two regions created to end a 1992-95 war that killed more than 1000,000 people in multi-ethnic Bosnia. They are linked by a weak central government in a state supervised by an international authority to stop it slipping back into conflict. …

TBILISI — Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been imprisoned since 2021, was sentenced on Wednesday to nine more years in jail after being found guilty of embezzlement. Saakashvili, in office from 2004 to 2013, had been convicted of embezzling $3.3 million via expenses claims for what prosecutors called “luxury” spending. In a post on X after the sentencing, Saakashvili, who denies the charges and says the expenses were legitimate, called the verdict an “outrageous case of political persecution.” Saakashvili was already serving a six-year sentence for abuse of power, having been jailed after returning to Georgia in 2021. He has spent much of that time in a prison hospital. The sentences will run concurrently, so Wednesday’s ruling will keep him in jail until 2030. He is also on trial for entering Georgia illegally in 2021 and, separately, for a crackdown on protesters in 2007. Georgian television showed a commotion in court after the verdict was announced, with Saakashvili’s supporters calling the judge a “slave” of the government. Now a deeply polarizing figure, Saakashvili rose to power on a tide of acclaim in the 2003 Rose Revolution. He reorientated Georgia towards the West and introduced public sector reforms that delivered rapid improvements in governance and the economy of the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million. However, the latter part of his tenure was marked by authoritarianism, police brutality, and a disastrous 2008 war with Russia. In 2012, his United National Movement lost an election to a coalition headed by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire businessman who is still Georgia’s de facto leader. After leaving office, Saakashvili moved to Ukraine, where he briefly served as governor of the Odesa region. He returned in 2021, despite having been convicted in absentia of abuse of power, and was jailed on arrival. The ruling Georgian Dream party regularly accuses all opposition parties, including those critical of Saakashvili, of having links to him. In recent years, Georgian Dream has clamped down on opposition and steered the former Soviet republic closer to Moscow again. …

Ukrainian officials said Wednesday a Russian missile attack hit the southern port city of Odesa overnight, killing four Syrians and injuring several other people. Oleksiy Kuleba, vice prime minister for reconstruction, said on Telegram that the missile struck a cargo ship that was being loaded with wheat set to be exported to Algeria. Russia is attacking Ukraine’s infrastructure, including ports that are involved in ensuring the world’s food security,” he said. Another missile attack hit Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown in the Dnipropetrovsk region, killing at least one person and injuring nine others, according to the regional governor. Governor Serhiy Lysak said the region also came under attack from Russian drones, and that the assaults damaged high-rise and administrative buildings, as well as a school. Officials in the Zaporizhzhia region said a Russian drone struck a medical van. Ukraine’s military said Wednesday it shot down 98 of the 133 drones that Russian forces launched overnight. The intercepts took place over the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia and Zhytomyr regions, the military said. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday it destroyed 21 Ukrainian drones, with air defenses downing the aircraft over the Bryansk, Kursk and Kaluga regions, as well as the Black Sea and Russia-occupied Crimea. Officials in those areas did not report casualties or damage from the Ukrainian attacks. Some information for this story was provided by Agence France-Presse and Reuters. …

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia — Foreign ministers from the G7 group of leading industrial nations are set to gather for several days of talks in Quebec, Canada, including meetings focused on support for Ukraine in its battle against a three-year Russian invasion. The talks follow a decision by the United States to resume intelligence sharing and security assistance to Ukraine, after senior officials from the two countries met in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. After nearly eight hours of talks, Ukraine announced Tuesday its readiness to accept a U.S. proposal for “an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire” in the war with Russia, pending Kremlin approval. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed the 30-day ceasefire proposal, saying Wednesday on X that it is “an important and correct step towards a just peace for Ukraine.” “We stand with Ukraine and the United States and welcome the proposals from Jeddah. Now it is up to Putin,” Scholz said. The Kremlin had no immediate comment on a ceasefire proposal from the U.S. and Ukraine. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said only that negotiations with U.S. officials could take place this week. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters late Tuesday that Ukraine has taken a concrete step toward ending the war. “Now hopefully we’ll take this offer now to the Russians. And we hope that they’ll say yes. That they’ll say yes to peace. The ball’s now in their court,” he said. National security adviser Mike Waltz, who joined Rubio in leading the U.S. side in Jeddah, said he would speak with his Russian counterpart “in the coming days.” On Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will visit the White House. All these discussions are part of the efforts to advance the peace process. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not participate in the U.S.-Ukraine talks, but he said during his nightly address Tuesday that the ceasefire plan was a “positive proposal.” …

WASHINGTON — For more than 70 years, Irish leaders have visited the White House for the annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration of Irish-America heritage. But this year, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheal Martin will need to present President Donald Trump with more than just the traditional gift of a bowl of shamrock, as he navigates potential friction over Ireland’s low defense spending, support for Palestinians in Gaza and Ukrainians, and the large trade imbalance between the two countries. While past Irish prime ministers enjoyed warm White House hospitality from former President Joe Biden, who often highlighted his “fierce pride” of his Irish ancestry, Wednesday’s meeting will largely be a test of Martin’s diplomatic acumen as he navigates the relationship with a crucial partner his country depends on economically. Martin appeared clear-eyed about the stakes of his visit. “I am very, very conscious that in a very challenging world, thousands and thousands of jobs depend on the economic relationship between the United States and Ireland,” he said Monday at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, where he began his U.S. tour. “And my overriding objective is to copper fasten that for the time ahead and to protect those people who are working in jobs,” Martin said. The meeting comes amid concern in Ireland about Trump’s moves to impose steep new tariffs on Canada and Mexico, neighboring countries that have large trade imbalances with the United States. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Ireland holds the fourth-largest trade surplus with the U.S., about $87 billion, behind Vietnam, Mexico and China but ahead of Canada. Trump has also threatened to apply tariffs on goods from the European Union, which would also affect Ireland, an EU member. Ireland is also highly dependent on long-standing investment from U.S. multinational companies for jobs, tax revenue and exports. According to data from the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland, around 970 U.S. companies directly employ 211,000 people and indirectly support a further 168,000 jobs across Ireland. Major American companies including Apple, Google, Microsoft, Meta and Pfizer have established European headquarters in the country, lured by its English-speaking and skilled workforce, access to the European single market, and its low corporate tax rate of 12.5%. As president-elect, Trump pledged to slash the U.S. corporate tax rate to match the Irish rate and “reshore” American companies, bringing back their business activities and their tax dollars. The … “Irish PM visits White House amid divisions on economy, Ukraine, Gaza” →

NUUK, Greenland — Polling stations closed in Greenland on Tuesday in a parliamentary election brought into the international spotlight by U.S. President Donald Trump’s pledge to take control of the mineral-rich island, firing up a debate over its independence. Voting had been extended by half an hour past a 2200 GMT deadline amid high turnout at several of the 72 polling stations across the arctic island, where 40,500 people were eligible to cast their ballots. There were no exit polls, and a final tally of the vote could take between three and five hours to complete, Greenland’s election authority has said. Since taking office in January, Trump has vowed to make Greenland — a semiautonomous territory of Denmark — part of the United States, saying it is vital to U.S. security interests. The vast island, with a population of 57,000, has been caught up in a geopolitical race for dominance in the Arctic, where melting ice caps are making its resources more accessible and opening new shipping routes. Both Russia and China have intensified military activity in the region. Greenland is a former Danish colony and a territory since 1953. It gained some autonomy in 1979 when its first parliament was formed, but Copenhagen still controls foreign affairs, defense and monetary policy and provides just under $1 billion a year to the economy. In 2009, it won the right to declare full independence through a referendum, even though it has not done so out of concern living standards would drop without Denmark’s economic support. “I strongly believe that we will very soon start to live a life more based on who we are, based on our culture, based on our own language, and start to make regulations based on us, not based on Denmark,” said Qupanuk Olsen, candidate for the main pro-independence party Naleraq. Inge Olsvig Brandt, a candidate for the ruling Inuit Ataqatigiit Party, said: “We don’t need the independence right now. We have too many things to work on. I think we have to work with ourselves, our history, and we are going to have a lot of healing work with us before we can take the next step.” Trump’s interest has shaken up the status quo, and coupled with the growing pride of the Indigenous people in their Inuit culture, put independence front and center in the election. In the final debate on Greenland’s state broadcaster KNR late … “Voting ends in Greenland election dominated by Trump’s control pledge” →

The United States praised Ukraine Tuesday for accepting a ceasefire offer and taking a step forward on the path to ending the war with Russia. Moscow is expected to weigh in next on the American proposal. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports. …

KYIV, UKRAINE — The images shared by Kremlin-controlled media were shocking: Russian troops hunched, dirt on their faces, as they crept through an empty gas pipeline under Ukrainian defense lines. Since Kyiv launched its audacious cross-border assault into the Kursk region last August, Moscow has been pushing back hard, using unconventional tactics and deploying thousands of North Korean troops against the Ukrainian army. They have since stepped up their advances. In the past five days, Moscow has broken through Kyiv’s defensive lines, reclaiming dozens of square kilometers of territory, according to military bloggers. Russian military bloggers reported Tuesday that Moscow’s troops had entered the town of Sudzha, the largest settlement in the region under Kyiv’s control. “The enemy is retreating in panic and disorder without [having] received any orders. That’s it. It’s a collapse,” a Russian serviceman, who identified himself as Zombie, told Kremlin-run television. The result is that Kyiv may have lost one of its only bargaining chips on swapping land with Russia, which has seized and occupied around a fifth of Ukraine since it took Crimea in 2014 and launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. For Ukraine, which has painted a more controlled picture of the fighting, the stakes of its difficult operation in Kursk could hardly be higher. The assault last summer injected a much-needed morale boost into the Ukrainian war effort and represented the first and only incursion by a foreign army into Russian territory since World War II. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the operation was key to future negotiations on ending the war and that holding Russian territory would give Kyiv vital leverage. But that leverage — just as Washington starts rounds of talks with Moscow and Kyiv — is dwindling as Russian forces press forward. Franz-Stefan Gady, a military analyst, said Russia had built up its force in Kursk over recent weeks and escalated strikes on Ukraine’s supply route. “The result is that now that the Russians are pushing a lot. Parts of the front line are actually giving way,” he told AFP. The British defense ministry estimates Ukraine controls around 300 square kilometers of Kursk, a five-fold territorial loss since Kyiv launched its gambit. On Monday, Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky conceded the situation was worsening. He dismissed reports Ukrainian troops were in danger of being encircled but acknowledged they had been forced to fall back and that he was sending forward … “Russia’s gains in Kursk threaten Kyiv’s leverage” →

Paris — European military and political heads are holding high-level talks this week after calls for massively rearming Europe — and boosting aid for Kyiv — amid fears of a less engaged United States. Lisa Bryant has more from Paris. Speaking to top NATO and European Union military brass gathered in Paris Tuesday, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans stressed the urgency of boosting Europe’s defense. While the transatlantic alliance is important, he said Europeans can no longer take U.S. protection for granted. “Europe therefore needs to fortify its security architecture. And we don’t have much time to get this right. We only have one shot,” said Brekelmans. The same message came from European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen at the European Parliament. “We need a surge in European defense, and we need it now,” she said. The European Union’s executive arm has proposed an $873 billion plan for rearming Europe and supporting Ukraine. It includes relaxing fiscal rules and some $164 billion in loans for defense investments. It has proposed increasing defense spending by an additional 1.5 percent of member states’ GDP yearly over four years. The proposed surge comes as Washington’s priorities appear to be shifting. And European leaders are worried Russia may not stop at Ukraine — fears their populations appear to share. One Ipsos survey found three-quarters of French and half of Germans are concerned the Ukraine conflict will spread elsewhere in Europe. Another poll, however, found few Europeans want to pay more for defense. Critics, including Hungary’s Viktor Orban, suggest Europe can’t afford to defend Ukraine. Others argue Brussels is assuming too much power. Europeans are also divided over whether to invest in their own defense industry — or buy externally. The U.S. has been a top supplier. Former French Ambassador Michel Duclos said, “They want to continue to sell weapons to European counties.” Duclos is now an analyst at the Montaigne Institute research group in Paris. That’s one argument, he believes, for Washington’s at least short-term commitment to Europe’s security. “What I fear more is not that they [the U.S.] will disengage. It’s more that they will want the Europeans to pay more and more for European protection,” he said. This week sees more high-level meetings on Ukraine and European security. There’s another in Paris Wednesday, gathering Europe’s five top military powers, along with NATO and Ukrainian defense chiefs. …

Belgrade, Serbia — Several hundred student protesters have blocked Serbia’s public television station building in Belgrade as tensions soar in the Balkan country, days ahead of a large rally planned for the weekend and billed as an endgame in months of anti-government demonstrations. The students first blocked the TV building in central Belgrade, Serbia’s capital, late on Monday and several hundred gathered again on Tuesday, after announcing that their blockade will last for at least 22 hours. A similar blockade was organized in the country’s second-largest city of Novi Sad. University students in Serbia are behind almost daily rallies that started after a concrete canopy crashed down in November at a railway station in Novi Sad, killing 15 people. The protests have rocked the populist rule of President Aleksandar Vucic and his firm grip on power. During the blockade late Monday, riot police briefly intervened with batons as the crowd tried to block one of the entrances to the TV building with metal security fences. At least one plainclothes police officer was injured in skirmishes after apparently being struck in the head by a uniformed officer, according to a video released on social media. The students blame public TV for biased reporting and for siding with Vucic and the government during the demonstrations. The Serbian president was the guest of the main TV news bulletin on Monday evening. During the interview, Vucic insulted the student-led protests, warning that security forces will use force against participants of the big rally planned for Saturday. He pledged never to step down because of the massive nationwide demonstrations. “You will have to kill me if you want to replace me,” he said, The TV reporter who interviewed Vucic called the protesting students “a mob,” which the president appeared to approve of. The station, RTS, issued a statement, denouncing the blockade. “Forcibly preventing RTS employees from coming to their workplaces represents a dangerous step into open conflicts with unpredictable consequences,” it said. Some of the TV station’s employees apparently managed to enter the building through a side entrance that’s not publicly known, allowing the program to continue uninterrupted. Meanwhile, Vucic met with U.S. President Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who arrived in Belgrade on Tuesday. The purpose of his visit was not immediately known. Pro-Russian Vucic is a vocal supporter of the U.S. president. Many in Serbia believe that the huge concrete construction fell … “Protesters block main state Serbian TV building as tensions soar ahead of planned rally” →

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia — U.S. and Ukrainian officials began talks Tuesday in Saudi Arabia with the Ukrainian side expected to present a partial ceasefire plan with Russia. The Ukrainian plan includes halting long-range missiles strikes and a truce covering the Black Sea. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not take part in Tuesday’s meetings, with Ukraine represented by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and military commander Pavlo Palisa. Yermak told reporters just before the start of Tuesday’s meeting that Ukraine is ready “to do everything to achieve peace.” When asked if Ukraine is seeking security guarantees, Yermak said ‘yes’ and that Ukraine wants to ensure that Russia never repeats its aggression. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz led the U.S. delegation amid President Donald Trump’s push to broker a swift end to the war that began in early 2022 with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Rubio said Monday the United States hopes to resolve the pause in aid to Ukraine. He said the U.S. is in a listening mode and aims to understand what concessions Ukraine might be willing to make. “The Ukrainians are already receiving all defensive intelligence information as we speak. I think all the notion of the pause in aid broadly is something I hope we can resolve. Obviously, I think what happens tomorrow will be key to that,” Rubio told reporters aboard a military plane before landing in Jeddah. “We’re not going to be sitting in a room drawing lines on a map, but just get a general sense of what concessions are in the realm of the possible for them [Ukrainians],” Rubio said, adding that there is no military solution to the war, and that both Russia and Ukraine need to “do difficult things.” Later on Monday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Rubio in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah. Salman held a separate meeting with Zelenskyy in Riyadh earlier in the day. Mineral deal? Trump has voiced interest in making continued military aid conditional on access to Ukraine’s raw materials. More than four dozen minerals, including several types of rare earths, nickel and lithium, are considered critical to the U.S. economy and national defense. Ukraine has large deposits of uranium, lithium and titanium. But Rubio clarified that securing a deal on Ukraine’s mineral resources was not … “Ukraine to present peace plan in talks with US” →

NUUK, Greenland — Greenland residents vote on Tuesday in a closely watched election brought into the international spotlight by a pledge from U.S. President Donald Trump to take control of the mineral-rich island. Since taking office in January, Trump has vowed to make Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, part of the United States, saying it is vital to U.S. security interests. The island, with a population of just 57,000, has been caught up in a geopolitical race for dominance in the Arctic, where melting ice caps are making its resources more accessible and opening new shipping routes. Both Russia and China have intensified military activity in the region. Greenland, a former colony and a Danish territory since 1953, is three times the size of Texas. It gained some autonomy in 1979 when its first parliament was formed, but Copenhagen controls foreign affairs, defense and monetary policy and provides just under $1 billion a year to the economy. In 2009, it won the right to declare full independence through a referendum, though has not done so, on concern living standards would drop without Denmark’s economic support. However, Trump’s interest has shaken up the status quo and coupled with the growing pride of the indigenous people in their Inuit culture, put independence front and center in the election. “The question of independence was put on steroids by Trump,” said Masaana Egede, editor of local newspaper Sermitsiaq. “It has put a lid on everyday issues.” Polling stations are open for 11 hours on Tuesday. The final result is expected on Wednesday. No polls or exit polls are expected. A January poll suggested a majority of Greenland’s inhabitants support independence, but are divided over the timing and potential impact on living standards. Reuters spoke to more than a dozen Greenlanders in the capital Nuuk, all of whom said they favored independence, although many expressed concern that a swift transition could damage the economy and eliminate Nordic welfare services like universal healthcare and free schooling. The island holds substantial natural resources, including critical minerals such as rare earths used in high-tech industries, ranging from electric vehicles to missile systems. However, Greenland has been slow to extract them due to environmental concerns, severe weather, and China’s near-total control of the sector, which has made it difficult for companies elsewhere to make a profit or secure buyers. Investment pledges Trump initially declined to rule out military force, … “Greenland election tests independence ambitions as US interest looms” →

WITHERNSEA, England — Fires continued to burn on Tuesday after two ships collided off the coast of northeast England a day earlier, adding to concerns the jet fuel carried by one and toxic chemicals aboard the other could cause an environmental disaster. Following the crash, both crews abandoned their ships and 36 people were brought ashore, the coastguard said. Rescue teams on Monday called off a search for a missing crew member from the Portuguese-flagged container ship Solong. The tanker Stena Immaculate, which carries jet fuel for the U.S. military, was at anchor when it was struck by the smaller Solong, releasing fuel into the sea. Equipment to minimize pollution at sea, such as spray dispersants for oil spills and containment booms, were on standby, said the British government, as its agencies prepared for action to protect the North Sea environment and wildlife. The potential environmental impact was being assessed, coordinated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and an East of England environmental group, and the situation was being monitored overhead by plane, the government said. Environmental harm? Two maritime security sources said there was no indication that malicious activity or actors were involved in the incident. The Stena Immaculate was carrying 220,000 barrels of jet fuel in 16 segregated cargo tanks, but it was unclear how much of it was spilt after at least one tank was hit, Crowley, the U.S. logistics group which operated the vessel, said on Monday. Onboard the Solong were 15 containers of sodium cyanide, a toxic chemical used mainly in gold mining, and an unknown quantity of alcohol, according to a casualty report from maritime data provider Lloyd’s List Intelligence. Those cargoes could pollute the sea, harming large colonies of protected seabirds including puffins and gannets which live on the coast in the area, and the fish on which they feed. The crash occurred on Monday morning in a busy waterway, prompting a significant rescue response from British teams who sent aircraft, lifeboats and other vessels. While Britain’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch will gather initial evidence, overall responsibility for investigating the crash lies with the U.S. and Portuguese authorities, the flag states of the vessels. …

Russian officials said Tuesday that Ukrainian attacks involving more than 90 drones killed at least two people and injured 18 others in the Moscow region.   The assault was part of an overall attack overnight that included more than 300 Ukrainian drones targeting 10 Russian regions stretching from border areas to the Russian capital. Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the Moscow region, said on Telegram that in addition to those hurt, there was also damage to an apartment building from falling drone debris. The attack also forced flight restrictions at Moscow airports and interrupted train services. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down 91 drones in the Moscow area, and a total of 337 across all regions. The ministry said it intercepted 126 drones over the Kursk region, 38 over Bryansk, 25 over Belgorod, 22 over Ryazan and others over Kaluga, Lipetsk, Oryol, Voronezh and Nizhny Novgorod. Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram that drone debris knocked out power to some part of his region and damaged multiple residential buildings. Ukraine’s military said Tuesday it shot down 79 of 126 drones that Russian forces used in overnight attacks. The intercepts took place over the Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Odesa, Poltava, Sumy, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia and Zhytomyr regions, the military said. Officials in Kaluga also reported damage to several buildings, while one person was reported hurt in Lipetsk. Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. …

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia — krainian officials are expected to present a partial ceasefire plan with Russia during talks Tuesday with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia. The Ukrainian plan includes halting long-range missiles strikes and a truce covering the Black Sea. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not expected to take part in Tuesday’s meetings, with Ukraine represented by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and military commander Pavlo Palisa.  Zelenskyy said on X ahead of the talks that Ukraine hopes for “practical outcomes.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz lead the U.S. delegation amid President Donald Trump’s push to broker a swift end to the war that began in early 2022 with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Rubio said Monday the United States hopes to resolve the pause in aid to Ukraine. He said the U.S. is in a listening mode and aims to understand what concessions Ukraine might be willing to make.  “The Ukrainians are already receiving all defensive intelligence information as we speak. I think all the notion of the pause in aid broadly is something I hope we can resolve. Obviously, I think what happens tomorrow will be key to that,” Rubio told reporters aboard a military plane before landing in Jeddah.  “We’re not going to be sitting in a room drawing lines on a map, but just get a general sense of what concessions are in the realm of the possible for them [Ukrainians],” Rubio said, adding that there is no military solution to the war, and that both Russia and Ukraine need to “do difficult things.”  Later on Monday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Rubio in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah. Salman held a separate meeting with Zelenskyy in Riyadh earlier in the day.  Mineral deal?  Trump has voiced interest in making continued military aid conditional on access to Ukraine’s raw materials.  More than four dozen minerals, including several types of rare earths, nickel and lithium, are considered critical to the U.S. economy and national defense. Ukraine has large deposits of uranium, lithium and titanium.  But Rubio clarified that securing a deal on Ukraine’s mineral resources was not the primary focus of Tuesday’s talks.  “There’s still more details to work out, and at this point, we’re probably — rather than a memorandum of understanding — just wanting … “Ukraine to present peace plan in US talks” →