Jeddah talks: Ukraine agrees to 30-day ceasefire with Russia

JEDDAH/WASHINGTON: Ukraine agreed to accept an immediate 30-day ceasefire in the conflict with Russia during talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia, the countries said in a joint statement.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would now take the offer to the Russians, and that the ball is now in Moscow’s court. The United States also will resume sharing intelligence with Kyiv.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was also 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. After more than eight hours of talks, the two sides issued a joint statement that said Ukraine was willing to accept the U.S. proposal for an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire that could be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, subject to acceptance and implementation by Russia.

“The United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace,” the statement said. “The United States will immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine,” the statement said.

The two sides also said Washington and Kyiv agreed to conclude as soon as possible a comprehensive agreement for developing Ukraine’s critical mineral resources, a deal that has been in the works for weeks and was thrown into limbo by an acrimonious White House meeting between US President Donald Trump and Zelenskiy last week.

Zelenskiy said the two countries would work to finalise the minerals agreement. A top aide to Zelenskiy said options for security guarantees to Ukraine were discussed with U.S. officials. The aide did not detail the options.Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would likely speak to President Vladimir Putin this week after Ukraine endorsed an American proposal for a ceasefire and talks with Russia to end the war.

Trump also indicated that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would be welcome back at the White House despite the two leaders’ public falling-out on February 28. While Russia said it could not rule out contact with the United States in the “next few days”, after Trump said he may speak to Russian counterpart this week. “We do not rule out contacts with US representatives within the next few days,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russian state news agencies.