Zelenskyy flying to Riyadh to meet crown prince as Russia steps up attacks

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is flying to Saudi Arabia for high-stakes talks with the crown prince, at a time when Ukraine is being squeezed on and off the battlefield.

The Ukrainian president has gone to Riyadh for talks with Mohammed bin Salman, whose government has played a mediating role between Ukraine and Russia, before separate meetings in Saudi Arabia this week between Ukrainian and US officials.

Donald Trump has sought to force Zelenskyy to agree to a deal to end the war with Russia, and last week the US president piled on the pressure by cutting off crucial military assistance and intelligence-sharing.

Russian forces – emboldened after Ukraine lost support from its biggest backer – have seized the moment, launching barrages of ballistic missile attacks while attempting to surround thousands of Ukrainian troops who had maintained a seven-month foothold in the Russian region of Kursk.