The United States said Russia must show that it was ready for peace after Ukraine accepted a proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire at talks in Saudi Arabia, at which the US also resumed provision of military aid and intelligence to Kyiv.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio said US officials would present the ceasefire plan to Russia in the coming days and warned that, if Moscow rejected it, “then we’ll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here ... The ball’s now in their court.”
Mr Rubio said US president Donald Trump’s “number one” objective was to end Europe’s biggest war in 80 years and that “today, Ukraine has taken a concrete step in that regard. We hope the Russians will reciprocate.”
Mr Trump said he intended to talk to Russian president Vladimir Putin about the ceasefire proposal this week: “Hopefully [he] will agree to that also. And we can get this show on the road ... It takes two to tango, as they say.”
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The eight-hour talks in Jeddah appeared to repair some of the damage done to US-Ukraine ties by a heated exchange in the White House between Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Mr Trump and his vice president JD Vance on February 28th.
Mr Zelenskiy said his officials in Jeddah had proposed an initial halt to air and naval attacks between Ukraine and Russia but that “the US side proposed taking an even bigger first step – a 30-day full interim ceasefire ... along the entire front line.”
“Ukraine is ready to accept this proposal ... Now, it is up to the United States to convince Russia to do the same. If Russia agrees, the ceasefire will take effect immediately,” he added.
“An important element in today’s discussions is America’s readiness to restore defence assistance to Ukraine and intelligence support. Ukraine is ready for peace. Russia must also show whether it is ready to end the war ... The time has come for the whole truth.”
US national security adviser Mike Waltz said Ukraine’s delegation had shown that it “shares president Trump’s vision for peace” and had discussed “substantive details on how this war is going to permanently end and what type of guarantees they’re going to have for their long-term security and prosperity”.
There was no immediate reaction to the US-Ukraine talks from Russia, which said earlier on Tuesday that a deadly overnight Ukrainian attack involving more than 300 drones showed that Kyiv did not want peace.
Mr Rubio said a deal giving the US sweeping access to Ukraine’s rare earths and other natural resources was not discussed in detail on Tuesday but was “going to happen”.
Mr Trump has resisted Ukraine’s push for US security guarantees to be part of that agreement, and the disagreement is believed to have fed the tension that resulted in the extraordinary public argument in the Oval Office.
However, when asked on Tuesday if Mr Zelenskiy might be invited back to the White House, Mr Trump replied: “Sure, absolutely.”
European leaders quickly welcomed the US-Ukraine agreement in Jeddah.
“This is a positive development that can be a step towards a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine. The ball is now in Russia’s court,” said European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. “The EU is ready to play its full part ... in the upcoming peace negotiations.”
