Ukraine says it is willing to accept 30-day US-brokered ceasefire

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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 will 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.

The ceasefire, which could be extended with the agreement of both parties, would go beyond the partial truce suggested by Ukrainian 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 officials in Moscow reported the biggest-ever drone attack on the capital by Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, with more than 90 drones targeting the city 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,” the Ukrainian president 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 said.

Waltz said President Donald Trump would “immediately” lift the US pause on aid and security assistance. Waltz added that 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 last month 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 put the ball in Moscow’s court.

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

Speaking at an event with Elon Musk, Trump said he hoped Russia would agree to the ceasefire.

“Ukraine has agreed to it, and hopefully Russia will agree to it,” he said. Asked if Zelenskyy is invited back to the White House he added: “Sure, absolutely.”

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.

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

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

Additional reporting by Christopher Miller in New York