Ukraine agrees to proposal for ceasefire with Russia as US restores aid and intel sharing

By Ivana Kottasová, Lauren Kent, Alex Marquardt and Jennifer Hansler, CNN
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (CNN) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that Ukraine had accepted a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States, following critical peace talks between US and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia.
The ceasefire proposal accepted by Ukraine covers the entire front line of the fighting with Russia, not just the air and sea, Zelensky said after the more than eight-hour long meeting.
“Ukraine accepts this proposal, we consider it positive, we are ready to take such a step, and the United States of America must convince Russia to do so,” Zelensky said, adding that the ceasefire would start the moment Moscow agrees to it.
The United States said in a joint statement with Ukraine following the meeting in Jeddah that it would “immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the onus is now on Russia to take steps to end the war. “We hope that they’ll say yes, that they’ll say yes to peace. The ball is now in their court,” he said of the Russians.
The joint statement emphasized that Kyiv had “expressed readiness to accept the US proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and which is subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation.”
“The United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace,” it said.
Zelensky said Ukraine’s proposals for the ceasefire had included “silence” in the sky and at sea, the release of Ukrainian prisoners “to establish confidence in this whole situation,” and the return of Ukrainian children from Russia.
The two sides also agreed to conclude a rare minerals deal “as soon as possible” to expand Ukraine’s economy and guarantee the country’s long-term security.
The two sides met for over eight hours in the Saudi port city Tuesday.
The developments will be a huge relief for Kyiv after the extraordinarily public blowup between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky less than two weeks ago.
The Ukrainian delegation, which did not include Zelensky, met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. Both Rubio and Waltz attended direct talks with Russia last month.
Speaking before the meeting, Rubio said the US wanted to get more details on Kyiv’s position and what possible concessions Ukraine would be willing to make, adding that the US was “in listening mode.”
Yermak on Tuesday declined to outline what, if any, compromises his country could offer to get to a peace deal. He said that security guarantees from the US were “very important” so that Russia cannot repeat its aggression.
The issue of security guarantees is one of the key sticking points between the US and Ukraine. Kyiv has long said that any ceasefire or peace deal must be underpinned by Western security guarantees because history shows that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not stick to agreements that don’t include them.
Many of Ukraine’s Western allies have backed Kyiv on this point, but the Trump administration has so far refused to make any concrete commitments.
Speaking at the European Parliament on Tuesday, president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said there was “the urgent need to fill the gaps in Ukraine’s military supplies and to provide Ukraine with solid security guarantees.”
“Putin has proven time and again that he is a hostile neighbor. He cannot be trusted, he can only be deterred,” she said.
Yermak seemed to acknowledge that security guarantees might not be on the agenda on Tuesday, stressing to reporters that finding a way to get the peace process started was the priority for the meeting.
“Now we think it’s necessary to discuss the most important: how to start this process,” Yermak told reporters in the lobby of Jeddah’s Ritz-Carlton hotel before the meeting. “And we’re very open, very open. And we want to have very constructive, deep, friend, partners conversation with our American partners.”
The Ukrainian and American officials met in Jeddah just hours after Russia said it was hit by a “massive” Ukrainian drone attack. Moscow’s defense ministry said it had downed 337 drones it claimed Ukraine had fired at Russia, of which 91 had targeted the Moscow region. Local officials said three people were killed and at least six wounded.
If the figure is confirmed, the aerial attacks would represent one of the largest on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine, and a clear attempt to show strength on the part of Kyiv.
Rubio asks Ukraine for concessions
The meeting on Tuesday was the first time Ukrainian and American officials have met since the US paused all shipments of military aid to Ukraine following the disastrous meeting between Trump and Zelensky less than two weeks ago.
Zelensky has since described the fiery meeting as “regrettable” and said Ukraine was ready to negotiate over an end to the conflict. However, he stopped short of apologizing to Trump.
Speaking ahead of the meeting on Tuesday, Rubio did not specify what compromises he was looking for from Ukraine, but Trump has repeatedly suggested Ukraine would likely need to give up some of its territory. Ukraine has so far not indicated it would be willing to do that.
Russian forces currently occupy nearly 20% of Ukraine’s territory, up from the roughly 7% Moscow controlled before it launched its unprovoked full-scale invasion in February 2022. Some 6 million Ukrainians live under Russian occupation.
Putin has made clear that he wants Moscow to gain control over the entirety of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based conflict monitor, Russia currently occupies about 99% of the Luhansk region and 70% of the Donetsk region, as well as roughly 75% of both the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
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