JEDDAH, March 11 (Reuters) – The United States agreed on Tuesday to resume military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine after Kyiv said it was ready to support Washington’s proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia, the countries said in a joint statement.
After more than eight hours of talks with Ukrainian officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. would now take the offer to Russia, and the ball is in Moscow’s court.
“Our hope is that the Russians will answer ‘yes’ as quickly as possible, so we can get to the second phase of this, which is real negotiations,” Rubio told reporters, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Kremlin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago, and Russia, which has been making advances, now holds around a fifth of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.
Rubio said Washington wanted a full agreement with both Russia and Ukraine “as soon as possible.”
“Every day that goes by, this war continues, people die, people are bombed, people are hurt on both sides of this conflict,” he said.
How Moscow would respond was far from certain.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is open to discussing a peace deal, but he and his diplomats have repeatedly stated they are against a ceasefire and would seek a deal that safeguards Russia’s long-term security.
Putin told his Security Council on January 20 that there “should not be a short truce, not some kind of respite for regrouping forces and rearmament with the aim of subsequently continuing the conflict, but a long-term peace.”
He has also ruled out territorial concessions and said Ukraine must withdraw fully from four Ukrainian regions claimed and partly controlled by Russia.
“Any agreements – with all the understanding of the need for compromise – on our terms, not on American,” an influential Russian lawmaker said on Wednesday.
The Russian foreign ministry said after the U.S-Ukraine talks on Tuesday only that it did not rule out contacts with U.S. representatives.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was in Saudi Arabia but did not participate in the talks, said the ceasefire was a “positive proposal,” that covers the frontline in the conflict, not just fighting by air and sea.
WILL RUSSIA AGREE?
The Ukrainian leader said the ceasefire would take effect as soon as Russia agreed.
“When the agreements come into force, during these 30 days of ‘silence,’ we will have time to prepare with our partners at the level of working documents all the aspects for reliable peace and long-term security,” Zelenskiy said.
Rubio said the plan would be delivered to the Russians through multiple channels. Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, was due to meet his Russian counterpart in the coming days and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff plans to visit Moscow this week to meet Putin.
On Tuesday, Trump said he hoped for a swift ceasefire and thought he would talk to Putin this week. “I hope it’ll be over the next few days,” he told reporters at a White House event to promote his close adviser Elon Musk’s Tesla car company.
The U.S.-Ukraine agreement was a sharp turnaround from an acrimonious White House meeting on February 28 between the new Republican U.S. president, who has long been a Ukraine aid skeptic, and Zelenskiy.
In Tuesday’s joint statement, the two countries said they agreed to conclude as soon as possible a comprehensive agreement for developing Ukraine’s critical mineral resources, which had been in the works and was thrown into limbo by that meeting.
Following that encounter, the United States cut off intelligence sharing and weapons shipments to Ukraine, underlining Trump’s willingness to pressure a U.S. ally as he pivots to a more conciliatory approach to Moscow.
Trump said on Tuesday he would invite Zelenskiy back to the White House.
Ukrainian officials said late on Tuesday that both U.S. military assistance and intelligence sharing had resumed.
EUROPEAN PARTNERS
A top aide to Zelenskiy said options for security guarantees to Ukraine were discussed with U.S. officials. Security guarantees have been one of Kyiv’s key aims, and some European countries have expressed willingness to explore sending troops to Ukraine if necessary as part of the guarantees.
In the joint statement, Ukraine reiterated that European partners should be involved in the peace process. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will be at the White House on Thursday.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who took part in the Jeddah talks, said that afterwards he talked to several European foreign ministers “about the outcomes of the milestone meeting.”
On Wednesday, Sybiha travels to Poland, Ukraine’s neighbour and a NATO member, that has been a steadfast supporter of Kyiv since the start of the war.
“It seems like the Americans and Ukrainians have taken an important step towards peace. And Europe stands ready to help reach a just and lasting peace,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X.
Waltz said the initial resumption of military assistance for Ukraine would involve equipment from U.S. stockpiles approved by former U.S. President Joe Biden and stopped by Trump.
As the diplomacy plays out, Ukraine’s battlefield positions have been under heavy pressure, particularly in Russia’s Kursk region where Moscow’s forces have launched a push to flush out Kyiv’s troops, which had been trying to hold a patch of land as a bargaining chip.
Ukraine overnight launched its biggest drone attack on Moscow and the surrounding region yet, showing Kyiv can also land major blows after a steady stream of Russian missile and drone attacks, one of which killed 14 people on Saturday.
The Tuesday attack, in which 337 drones were downed over Russia, killed at least three employees of a meat warehouse and caused a short shutdown at Moscow’s four airports.`
Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Pesha Magid; Additional reporting by Anastasiia Malenko, Doina Chiacu, Jonathan Landay, Humeyra Pamuk, Steve Holland, Lili Bayer, Lidia Kelly and Yuliia Dysa; Writing by Tom Balmforth and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Humeyra Pamuk, Cynthia Osterman, Sharon Singleton and Michael Perry
Reuters