Negotiations between Ukraine and the United States took place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on March 11.
Meduza, an independent, Russian-language media outlet, says negotiations in Jeddah were attended by Ukraine's Head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak, Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga, and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, while the U.S. side was represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
This was the first meeting of high-level Ukrainian and U.S. representatives after the fallout between Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump in the White House and the suspension of American military aid to Ukraine. Before the meeting, Washington stated that Ukraine must be prepared for concessions and "difficult decisions" — only in this case would the U.S. resume its support.
The U.S. proposed a 30-day ceasefire, and Ukraine agreed
The joint statement notes that the Ukrainian side expressed readiness to "accept the proposal for the immediate introduction of a temporary 30-day ceasefire regime, which may be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, provided that the Russian Federation accepts and simultaneously fulfills it."
A few minutes after the meeting ended and the statement was published, President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Kyiv was ready for a full ceasefire. "Ukraine is ready for peace. Russia must show its readiness to either end the war or continue the war," he emphasized.
The U.S. resumes military aid to Ukraine
"The United States is immediately lifting the pause in intelligence-sharing and resuming security assistance to Ukraine," the joint statement said. The aid had been suspended after the fallout between Trump and Zelensky. In the absence of American intelligence, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost about a third of the territory they controlled in the Kursk region over several days. Previously, the media reported that the suspension of military aid could be a pressure tactic from Trump on Ukraine to push Kyiv into negotiations with Moscow.
The negotiations did not discuss a deal regarding rare earth metals, but after the meeting, Marco Rubio stated that it had previously been agreed upon at the level of the finance ministries of Ukraine and the U.S. “Our presidents have tasked the appropriate members of their governments to finalize and complete this,” said the U.S. Secretary of State, according to Meduza.
The U.S. will share the results of the negotiations with Russia
“We will now pass this proposal on to the Russian side and hope that they will say 'yes' to peace. The ball is now in their court," said Marco Rubio after the talks. He expressed hope that "the Russians will reciprocate.” Earlier, Donald Trump had expressed the opinion that Russian President Vladimir Putin “wants peace” (contrasting him with Zelensky), but also threatened Russia with “massive sanctions” if it did not move towards peace. After the negotiations, Trump stated that U.S. representatives would meet with the Russian delegation “later today or tomorrow.” He also mentioned that he would once again invite President Volodymyr Zelensky back to the White House because “we want to end the war in Ukraine.”
Moscow has not yet commented on the U.S. and Ukraine's ceasefire proposal.
