By Andrew E. Kramer and Alan Rappeport
Ukraine said it would support a Trump administration proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia, an announcement that followed hours of meetings Tuesday in Saudi Arabia where the United States agreed to immediately lift a pause on intelligence sharing and resume military assistance to Ukraine.
The talks in the coastal city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, brought fresh momentum to ceasefire negotiations that had faltered following 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 the meeting in Washington.
The announcements Tuesday, in a joint statement after the talks in Jeddah, came hours after Russian officials said Ukrainian drones had targeted Moscow in the largest attack of the war on the Russian capital. There was no immediate comment from Russia, which did not have officials at the talks.
In the statement, the United States and Ukraine acknowledged that the terms of any ceasefire would be subject to Russia’s approval.
“Ukraine expressed readiness to accept the U.S. proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire” 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 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,” Rubio said. “The ball is now in their court.”
The United States has been pursuing talks separately with Russia and with Ukraine. There has been no public indication that Russia would accept an unconditional, monthlong ceasefire. And President Vladimir Putin of Russia has signaled that he will demand concessions — such as ruling out membership in NATO for Ukraine — before agreeing to any halt in the war, which began in 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has killed or wounded more than 1 million soldiers on both sides.
The joint statement Tuesday said the United States and Ukraine also agreed to conclude “as soon as possible” a deal to develop Ukraine’s critical mineral resources — an agreement that was put on hold after the Oval Office clash. That joint venture 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 also discussed humanitarian relief efforts that would take place during a ceasefire 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 Rubio and Michael Waltz, the national security adviser. They met with a delegation from Ukraine led by Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
Before Tuesday’s talks, Ukraine had insisted that any ceasefire include security guarantees, but there was no indication from the statement issued Tuesday that any such guarantees would be provided before any interim ceasefire would take effect.
While the agreement did not delve into the security guarantees that Ukraine has been seeking, Waltz told reporters that those had been part of the conversations in Jeddah.
“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,” Waltz said.
The intelligence cutoff had already impaired soldiers in combat, particularly in the Kursk region of Russia, where Russian soldiers have been rapidly retaking territory seized by Ukraine last summer, according to Ukrainian commanders in the field.
The confrontational White House meeting between President Donald Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine unraveled into an argument and insults. “You’ve talked enough,” Trump told Zelenskyy at one point. “You won’t win.” He added at the end of the televised, confrontational meeting, “this is going to be great television.”
The fallout has reverberated ever since, prompting Ukraine’s European allies to pledge further support. On Tuesday, Rubio suggested that it was time to move on from concerns about such clashes.
“What’s back on track here hopefully is peace,” Rubio said. “This is not ‘Mean Girls.’ This is not some episode of some television show.”
Yermak, the lead Ukrainian negotiator, in turn thanked the United States for “constructive” talks.
“A just peace is the most important for us,” he wrote on social media. “We want a lasting peace.”
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