Lavrov's visit to Iran, British fighters arriving in Saudi Arabia – daily digest
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Lavrov's visit to Iran, British fighters heading to Saudi Arabia — daily digest
On October 20, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held negotiations in Oslo with Steve Witkoff, the US Special Envoy, regarding ending the war. Representatives of the European Union and NATO also attended the meeting. "We are maintaining all contacts that help bring peace," Zelensky said upon arriving in Oslo.
According to Axios, Witkoff will travel to St. Petersburg today to meet with Vladimir Putin. He will present him with an updated plan to end the war, which was discussed in Oslo.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is currently in Mumbai, acknowledged that a batch of air defense missiles paid for with European funds for Ukraine may not have been delivered. However, he stressed that there was no political motive behind this.
Relations between Kyiv and Washington have been deteriorating since the announcement of a diesel fuel agreement between the US and Russia on October 9.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump stated he is ready to hold a trilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin during his trip to Asia next month. Trump told reporters that nuclear weapons and disarmament issues would be addressed at the meeting, adding that if Xi wants it, he agrees.
Earlier, official Moscow announced that the three leaders could meet on the sidelines of a summit in China. According to WSJ, Putin intends to use such a meeting without Zelensky to achieve a peace agreement beneficial to Moscow.
Great Britain will deploy "Typhoon" fighter jets to protect Saudi Arabian cities and critical infrastructure from Houthi airstrikes.
According to the British Ministry of Defence, the Royal Air Force fighters will perform purely defensive duties and will not participate in attacks against the Houthis. London emphasizes that the Houthi attacks pose a threat to regional stability and risk disrupting energy supplies and trade routes.
"The Houthis' continued attacks on our ally Saudi Arabia are completely abhorrent," said the UK Defence Secretary.
According to Reuters, the assistance is being provided in response to a request from the Saudi government. London will also send an A400M "Atlas" transport aircraft and military advisers to Saudi Arabia. As part of the assistance announced in September, Britain had sent a "Voyager" aerial refueling aircraft, but there was no mention of fighter jets.