Ukraine has accepted a US proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire with Russia, following talks between Ukrainian and American officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the proposal would “establish a complete ceasefire for 30 days, not only regarding missiles, drones and bombs, not only in the Black Sea, but also along the entire front line”.
Ukraine ceasefire proposal offered
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Washington would present the offer to Russia and declared that “the ball is in their court”.
“We’re going to tell them this is what’s on the table. Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking. And now it’ll be up to them to say yes or no,” Rubio told reporters in Jeddah.
The ceasefire proposal marks a significant diplomatic breakthrough following weeks of tension between Washington and Kyiv, which culminated in the US suspending intelligence sharing and military aid to Ukraine last week.
In the joint statement released after the talks, the US committed to “immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance” to Ukraine.
The Jeddah meeting was the first high-level diplomatic engagement between the two allies since a public clash between Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump at the White House on 28 February.
Trump expressed optimism about the proposal, telling reporters at the White House that he would speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who would “hopefully” agree to the plan.
“It takes two to tango, as they say,” Trump stated, adding he hoped the deal would be agreed in the next few days.
Russia’s response pending
The Kremlin has not yet formally responded to the offer. Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia had not ruled out talks with US representatives in the coming days, according to Russia’s state-owned news agency Tass.
But influential Russian lawmaker Konstantin Kosachev struck a less conciliatory tone, insisting that any potential agreements would be “on our terms, not American”.
The talks in Saudi Arabia took place against the backdrop of what Russian officials described as the largest drone attack on Moscow since the start of the war. Russian authorities said 337 drones were intercepted over Russia, with 91 shot down over the Moscow region, killing three people and injuring 18 others.
In addition to the ceasefire, both sides agreed to pursue humanitarian relief efforts including prisoner exchanges and the return of forcibly transferred Ukrainian children. The joint statement also indicated that negotiations on a critical minerals deal between the two countries would resume, which could see the US gain access to Ukraine’s rare earth mineral reserves.
Russia currently controls about 20 per cent of Ukrainian territory since launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
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