Kyiv is expected to propose an air and sea ceasefire in the war with Russia at a meeting with US officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, when Paris will host talks involving military officials from dozens of states on a potential peacekeeping force for Ukraine.
“We propose a ceasefire in the air, focusing on drones, missiles, [and including] ballistic missiles. We also propose a ceasefire at sea... Additionally, we offer not to target the [Russian] energy sector,” Serhiy Leshchenko, an adviser in the administration of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said on Monday.
“If you want a truce, we are ready. However, not on land, where [Vladimir] Putin could use a ceasefire to buy time – to treat the wounded, recruit infantry from North Korea and later resume the war,” he added, referring to the Russian president who launched a full-scale invasion of pro-western Ukraine more than three years ago.
The plan tallies with comments from Mr Zelenskiy, who landed in Saudi Arabia on Monday for talks with the country’s leaders but is not expected to take part in Tuesday’s meeting.
Ukraine’s delegation for the talks in Jeddah will include Mr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, defence minister Rustem Umerov and foreign minister Andriy Sybiha, while the US representatives will include secretary of state Marco Rubio and White House national security adviser Mike Waltz.
“Ukraine has been seeking peace since the very first second of the war, and we have always said that the only reason it continues is Russia,” Mr Zelenskiy said on Monday. “I am grateful to every unit and every brigade defending Ukraine’s positions, ensuring the destruction of the occupiers, and making every effort to provide our country with the strength needed to bring peace closer.”
Ukrainian forces appear to have slowed Russia’s advance in the eastern Donetsk region but are under heavy pressure in the Kursk region of Russia, where they now hold less than half of the land they seized in a lightning cross-border attack last summer.
Reports suggest North Korean troops deployed to Kursk region have helped Moscow’s forces reclaim territory, allowing Russian units to increase attacks on the Sumy region of northern Ukraine, just across the frontier from Kursk.
Ukraine’s operations in Kursk are believed to have been hampered by US president Donald Trump’s decision last week to stop sharing some intelligence with Kyiv, which followed his order to suspend military aid to Ukraine.
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Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump’s Middle East envoy, said the US had not stopped sharing intelligence vital for Ukraine’s defence and that the issue would be discussed in Jeddah, where he expressed hopes for “substantial progress”.
He also said he saw “very, very positive” signs that a deal would be signed to give the US rights to exploit Ukraine’s rare earths and other natural resources, after plans to finalise the deal were derailed on February 28th by heated exchanges in the White House between Mr Trump, Mr Zelenskiy and US vice-president JD Vance.
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European states, particularly France and Britain, have stepped up public support for Ukraine amid the rapid deterioration of its ties with Washington and Mr Trump’s push for a quick end to the war and a rapprochement with Russia.
Paris will host talks on Tuesday about the possible creation of a peacekeeping force for Ukraine, which are expected to be attended in person or remotely by senior military officials from dozens of states.
Britain says it wants to help form a “coalition of the willing” on the issue and has called a meeting of leaders to discuss it on Saturday.
