Ukraine willing to accept 30-day US-brokered ceasefire

Ukraine has said it is ready to accept a US proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire in its war with Russia, prompting Washington to agree to resume military assistance to Kyiv.

The proposed ceasefire, which would still need to be agreed by Russia, was announced in a joint statement that capped several hours of talks between US and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia.

Washington said it would immediately restore deliveries of weapons and ammunition and end its suspension of intelligence-sharing, which Kyiv feared would seriously hamper its ability to detect and hit targets beyond the battlefield.

US President Donald Trump said he hoped Russia would agree to the ceasefire, and that he planned to speak with Vladimir Putin.

“Ukraine has agreed to it, and hopefully Russia will agree to it,” Trump told reporters outside the White House.

Maria Zakharova, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said Moscow did “not exclude contacts with US representatives in the next few days”, according to state newswire Tass.

The ceasefire, which could be extended with the agreement of both parties, would go beyond the partial truce suggested by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the crucial meeting with US officials in Jeddah. That proposal was only intended to apply to long-range drone and missile strikes as well as military activities in the Black Sea.

Tuesday’s ceasefire plan comes hours after Russian officials reported the biggest drone attack on Moscow by Ukraine since its full-scale invasion in February 2022, with more than 90 drones targeting the capital and 343 downed in total across the country.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio, who led the US team, said: “Before you can negotiate, you have to stop shooting at each other.”

On Telegram, Zelenskyy said the US had proposed 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 accepts this proposal, we consider it positive, we are ready to take such a step,” he wrote.

“The US must convince Russia to do this,” he added.

US national security adviser Mike Waltz, who also took part in the Jeddah negotiations, said the two sides had discussed “substantive details” on how the war would permanently end.

This included “what guarantees they’re going to have for their long-term security and prosperity, but also really looking at what it’s going to take to finally end this”, Waltz added.

He said Trump would “immediately” lift the US pause on aid and security assistance. Waltz added he planned to speak with his Russian counterpart “in the coming days”.

Zelenskyy had long pushed back against a cessation of hostilities without arrangements for monitoring and enforcement and security guarantees to deter a further Russian attack, regarding it as a phoney deal that Moscow would exploit.

But his resistance angered Washington, culminating in a spectacular bust-up with Trump in the White House on February 28 followed by the suspension of military aid and intelligence-sharing.

Zelenskyy sought to patch up relations by proposing a cessation of drone, missile and air strikes and a pause to all maritime operations. European officials said such a partial truce would be easier to monitor and enforce.

A senior Ukrainian official told the Financial Times from Jeddah that Kyiv was “OK with the ceasefire”, which now puts the ball in Moscow’s court.

“The question is Russia — what are they ready for?” they added.

Rubio said the US hopes “Russia will say yes”, so that “talks can begin about how to end this war permanently in a way that’s acceptable and enduring for both sides”.

The Ukrainian official said the delegations discussed the joint minerals extraction deal that was meant to be signed in Washington but was postponed after the acrimonious talks between Trump and Zelenskyy in the Oval Office.

“When [Washington is] ready [to sign the deal] — we are ready,” the official said.

Asked if Zelenskyy would be invited back to the White House, Trump added: “Sure, absolutely.”

Another Ukrainian official involved in negotiations over the minerals deal said no amendments had been made since the FT first reported that an agreement had been reached by the two sides.

However, the official said further negotiations would take place when drawing up the structure of the investment fund under the first agreement. 

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, one of Europe’s key players in the conflict, helping to mend relations between Zelenskyy and Trump, called the US-Ukraine talks “an important moment for peace in Ukraine”. He added “we now all need to redouble our efforts to get to a lasting and secure peace as soon as possible”.

The EU’s leadership said it “welcomed” the Jeddah talks outcomes.

“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 Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission president, and António Costa, the European Council’s president, in a joint statement. “The EU is ready to play its full part, together with its partners, in the upcoming peace negotiations.”

Additional reporting by Christopher Miller in New York, Max Seddon in Berlin and Henry Foy in Brussels