Ukraine on Tuesday endorsed an American proposal for a 30-day ceasefire and agreed to immediate negotiations with Russia in pivotal talks in Jeddah after three years of grinding war.
A joint statement said in the first high-level US-Ukraine meeting since President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s White House dressing down, the Americans agreed to restore military aid and they pledged to conclude a deal on Ukrainian minerals as soon as possible.
“Today we made an offer that the Ukrainians have accepted, which is to enter into a ceasefire and into immediate negotiations.
“We’ll take this offer now to the Russians and we hope they’ll say yes to peace. The ball is now in their court,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
According to the joint statement, Ukraine expressed readiness to accept the US proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties.
It added that the ceasefire is subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation.
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said he would now speak to Russia about the proposal, adding that it was now a question of how not if the war would end.
The talks in western Saudi Arabia took place after Ukraine launched its biggest direct attack on Moscow overnight, with hundreds of drones slamming into the capital and other areas, leaving three people dead.
The Ukrainians were hoping to restore the US military aid, intelligence sharing and access to satellite imagery that was cut off after Zelenskyy’s public row with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
They entered the meeting with a proposal for a sea and sky ceasefire that had been cautiously welcomed by Rubio.
“We are ready to do everything to achieve peace,” the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak told reporters as he entered Tuesday’s meeting at a luxury hotel.
Ukraine endorses US proposal for 30-day ceasefire in war with Russia
