Jeddah: Ukraine said it would support a Trump administration proposal for a 30-day cease-fire with Russia, an announcement that followed hours of meetings on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, where the United States agreed to immediately lift a pause on intelligence sharing with Kyiv and resume military assistance.
The talks Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, brought new momentum to cease-fire negotiations that had faltered after a public confrontation at the White House between the Ukrainian and U.S. presidents.
The Trump administration had suspended all military aid and intelligence sharing in the aftermath of that combative meeting in Washington.
The announcements came in a joint statement.In the statement, the United States and Ukraine acknowledged that the terms of any cease-fire would be subject to Russia’s approval.
Whereas there was no immediate comment on the cease-fire discussion from Moscow, which had no officials at the talks.
“Ukraine expressed readiness to accept the U.S. proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day cease-fire” if Russia did the same, the statement said. It added, “The United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace.”
At the conclusion of the meetings, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the agreement now puts the pressure on Russia to end the war.
“We’ll take this offer now to the Russians, and we hope that they’ll say yes, that they’ll say yes to peace,” Mr. Rubio said. “The ball is now in their court.”
The United States has been pursuing talks separately with Russia and Ukraine. There has been no public indication that Russia would accept an unconditional, monthlong cease-fire.
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has signaled that he will demand concessions — such as ruling out membership in NATO for Ukraine.
Mr. Trump told reporters that he thought he would speak with Mr. Putin this week and that he hoped a lasting cease-fire would be negotiated in the coming days.
The joint statement said the United States and Ukraine had also agreed to conclude “as soon as possible” a deal to develop Ukraine’s oil, natural gas and mineral resources — an agreement that was put on hold after the Oval Office clash. That deal is intended to “expand Ukraine’s economy and guarantee Ukraine’s long-term prosperity and security,” the statement said.
It added that the United States and Ukraine had also discussed humanitarian relief efforts that would take place during a cease-fire and the exchange of prisoners of war.
“Representatives of both nations praised the bravery of the Ukrainian people in defense of their nation and agreed that now is the time to begin a process toward lasting peace,” the statement said.
The U.S. delegation in Jeddah was led by Mr. Rubio and Michael Waltz, the national security adviser. They met with a delegation from Kyiv led by Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff; Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha; and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
Before the talks, Ukraine had insisted that any cease-fire include security guarantees, but there was no indication from the statement issued on Tuesday that any such guarantees would be provided before any interim cease-fire takes effect.
“We also got into substantive details on how this war is going to permanently end, what type of guarantees they’re going to have for their long-term security and prosperity,” Mr. Waltz said.
The intelligence cutoff had already impaired Ukrainian soldiers in combat, particularly in the Kursk region of Russia, where Russian troops have been rapidly retaking territory seized by Ukraine last summer, according to Ukrainian commanders in the field.
