The Trump administration lifted its suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing for Ukraine, and Kyiv signaled that it was open to a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Russia, pending Moscow’s agreement, American and Ukrainian officials said Tuesday following talks in Saudi Arabia.
The administration’s decision marked a sharp shift from only a week ago, when it imposed the measures in an apparent effort to push Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to enter talks to end the war with invading Russian forces. The suspension of U.S. assistance came days after Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump argued about the conflict in a tense White House meeting.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who led the U.S. delegation to the talks in Jeddah, said Washington would present the ceasefire offer to the Kremlin, which has so far opposed anything short of a permanent end to the conflict without accepting any concessions.
“We’re going to tell them this is what’s on the table. Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking. And now it’ll be up to them to say yes or no,” Rubio told reporters after the talks. “If they say no, then we’ll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here.”
Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, added: “The Ukrainian delegation today made something very clear, that they share President Trump’s vision for peace.”
Tuesday’s discussions, which lasted for nearly eight hours, appeared to put to rest — for the moment at least — the animosity between Trump and Zelenskyy that erupted during the Oval Office meeting last month.
Waltz said the negotiators “got into substantive details on how this war is going to permanently end,” including long-term security guarantees. And, he said, Trump agreed to immediately lift the pause in the supply of billions of dollars of U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing.
Trump said he hoped that an agreement could be solidified “over the next few days.”
“I’ve been saying that Russia’s been easier to deal with so far than Ukraine, which is not supposed to be the way it is,” Trump said later Tuesday. “But it is, and we hope to get Russia. But we have a full ceasefire from Ukraine. That’s good.”
The Kremlin had no immediate comment on the U.S. and Ukrainian statements. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said only that negotiations with U.S. officials could take place this week.
Trump ‘s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to travel later this week to Moscow, where he could meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a person familiar with the matter but not authorized to comment publicly. The person cautioned that scheduling could change.
Officials met in Saudi Arabia only hours after Russia shot down over 300 Ukrainian drones in Ukraine’s biggest attack since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion. Neither U.S. nor Ukrainian officials offered any comment on the barrage.
Russia also launched 126 drones and a ballistic missile at Ukraine, the Ukrainian air force said, as part of Moscow’s relentless pounding of civilian areas.
Zelenskyy renews calls for lasting peace
In an address posted shortly after Tuesday’s talks ended, Zelenskyy reiterated Ukraine’s commitment to a lasting peace, emphasizing that the country has sought an end to the war since its outset.
“Our position is absolutely clear: Ukraine has strived for peace from the very first second of this war, and we want to do everything possible to achieve it as soon as possible — securely and in a way that ensures war does not return,” Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak, who led the Ukrainian delegation, described the negotiations as positive. He said the two countries “share the same vision, and that we are moving in the same direction toward the just peace long awaited by all Ukrainians.”
In Kyiv, Lena Herasymenko, a psychologist, accepts that compromises will be necessary to end the war, but she said they must be “reasonable.”
“We had massive losses during this war, and we don’t know yet how much more we’ll have,” she told The Associated Press. “We are suffering every day. Our kids are suffering, and we don’t know how the future generation will be affected.”
Oleksandr, a Ukrainian soldier who could give only his first name because of security restrictions, warned that Ukraine cannot let down its guard.
“If there is a ceasefire, it would only give Russia time to increase its firepower, manpower, missiles and other arms. Then they would attack Ukraine again,” he said.
Hawkish Russians push back against a ceasefire
In Moscow, hawkish politicians and military bloggers spoke strongly against a prospective ceasefire, arguing that it would play into Kyiv’s hands and damage Moscow’s interests at a time when the Russian military has the advantage.
“A ceasefire isn’t what we need,” wrote hardline ideologue Alexander Dugin.
Over 340 Ukrainian drones downed in multiple regions across Russia
Viktor Sobolev, a retired general who is a member of the Russian parliament’s lower house, warned that a 30-day truce would allow Ukraine to beef up arms supplies and regroup its troops before resuming hostilities.
Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin political commentator, suggested that Moscow could demand a halt on Western arms supplies to Ukraine as part of a ceasefire. “An embargo on arms supplies to Ukraine could be a condition for a truce,” he wrote.
