Ukraine agrees to US proposal for 30-day ceasefire with Russia in exchange for restoring military aid

The United States will “immediately” restore military assistance and lift the pause on intelligence sharing with Ukraine if the Kyiv government agrees to negotiate a 30-day ceasefire with Russia. The agreement is subject to Moscow’s acceptance, and if so, it could be extended. These are the first known results of the meeting held this Tuesday, which lasted more than eight hours, between high-level delegations from Kyiv and Washington in the Saudi city of Jeddah. The proposal represents the first sign of a possible pause in the bloody war unleashed by Russia in Ukraine more than three years ago. A pause that Ukraine is accepting, forced by pressure from President Donald Trump and his controversial decisions since he took office just over 50 days ago.

In a joint statement issued after the meeting, Washington and Kyiv also committed to finalizing the agreement on joint mineral exploitation that had been left in the air after the clash between Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the Oval Office on February 28. “The ball is now in their court,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared about Russia in a brief press conference with White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz in Jeddah. The United States will immediately present the conclusions of the meeting to Moscow to insist that Russia must now also accept the truce. “I hope they’re going to say yes. And if they do, then I think we made great progress. If they say no, then we’ll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here,” Rubio warned. “There is no military solution to this war.”

The White House’s first words following the announcement seemed to reinforce Rubio’s message. Trump is willing to invite Zelenskiy back to the Oval Office, he told reporters in the Rose Garden at the presidential residence, at an event attended by his right-hand man, the tech oligarch Elon Musk. “Ukraine. Ceasefire. Ukraine has agreed to it, and we hope Russia will agree to it as well,” Trump said a few minutes after the eight-hour meeting concluded. Asked if Zelenskiy would be invited back to the White House, the Republican replied: “Absolutely.”

The meeting took place just hours after Kyiv launched its largest drone attack on Russia on Tuesday. Moscow, for its part, has bombed several towns in Donetsk province.

The Ukrainian president also remarked on the outcome of the meeting. “The American side understands our arguments and accepts our proposals, I am grateful to President Trump for the constructive nature of the dialogue between our teams,” he posted on social media. Zelenskiy added that Ukraine accepts the ceasefire proposal and acknowledged that Washington’s willingness to resume defense aid was an “important element” in making the decision. Finally, he noted that Washington must now “convince” Russia to also give the green light to the ceasefire.

In Moscow, in the absence of an official statement, the initial signs are less encouraging. Deputy General Viktor Soboliov declared that the Kremlin will not accept a temporary ceasefire because “it is unacceptable, it will only allow Ukraine to regroup and rearm,” reports Javier G. Cuesta.

The joint statement from the United States and Ukraine indicates that Washington “will immediately lift the pause in intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine,” suspended following the tense meeting between Trump and Zelenskiy at the White House. Furthermore, “Ukraine expressed readiness to accept the U.S. proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire,” and steps to restore lasting peace following the Russian invasion.

The statement also mentions the signing of the agreement on minerals and rare earths, through which the United States obtains a benefit from the exploitation of these resources on Ukrainian soil in exchange for offering its protection. It was supposed to have been signed on February 28, but this did not happen. On this point, the statement from both delegations reports that the presidents of Ukraine and the United States have agreed to “conclude as soon as possible” this agreement “for developing Ukraine’s critical mineral resources to expand Ukraine’s economy and guarantee Ukraine’s long-term prosperity and security.”

Signs of optimism

On the eve of the meeting, Zelenskiy, who has not participated in the bilateral talks but met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, highlighted the issue of the release of prisoners of war and the return of children abducted by Russia in the occupied territories as crucial elements. “These could be key steps to restore confidence in diplomatic efforts,” he said. A significant part of the conversation was devoted to security guarantees, a key point for Kyiv.

In talks led by Rubio and his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrei Sibiha, the emissaries also discussed “the importance of humanitarian efforts as part of the peace process,” especially while the ceasefire is in place. Such confidence-building measures would include “the exchange of prisoners of war, the release of detained civilians, and the return of forcibly transferred Ukrainian children” to Russian territory.

In the absence of precise details, it is not yet known whether the ceasefire would apply, as Kyiv wants, in three ways: to attacks with drones and long-range missiles, to combat operations in the Black Sea, and to attacks on energy infrastructure. “We have a proposal for a ceasefire in the sky and a ceasefire at sea,” a senior official told the AFP news agency on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity because, he said, these options are “easy to implement and monitor.”

Since the clash between Zelenskiy and Trump in the Oval Office, the Ukrainian administration’s efforts to ease tensions with the United States have been evident. Zelenskiy and other senior Ukrainian officials have apologized in various ways and sent conciliatory messages to Washington. These efforts have led to Tuesday’s meeting, in which Kyiv was already planning from the outset to propose a partial ceasefire. The Ukrainian president had briefly mentioned it on March 4, two days after French President Emmanuel Macron proposed a ceasefire by air and sea at a mini-summit held in London.

Russia has not participated in these bilateral negotiations, but Moscow assumed that Washington would inform it of their content, Peskov said. “The United States will somehow inform Russia of the results of its contacts with Ukraine in Jeddah,” he said on Tuesday morning at his daily press conference. In addition, one of the members of the American delegation, President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, will later travel to Moscow to meet with Putin, according to Bloomberg. “The Kremlin will provide information in due time,” the Kremlin spokesman replied when asked about this possible meeting.

The United States, meanwhile, wants to move quickly. While it has informed Moscow that it expects its approval for the negotiations, it will also discuss the situation with the Europeans, specifically with NATO. According to Waltz, the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance will visit the White House this Thursday for meetings with President Donald Trump and his advisors on the next steps to launch the peace process.

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