The agreement came after more than eight hours of negotiations between Ukrainian officials and a U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the Saudi city of Jeddah. The statement said the U.S. "will immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine." Both were frozen in the wake of an explosive meeting between Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Mr. Trump at the White House on Feb. 28. Ukraine has been supported by the U.S. and other Western allies in its fight against Russia since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion in 2022, and the move to cut off aid left Kyiv at a disadvantage and European allies scrambling.
Ukrainian diplomats signaled their willingness to agree to a 30-day preliminary ceasefire with Russia as part of their negotiations with American officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. "Ukraine expressed readiness to accept the U.S. 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 State Department said in a joint statement with Ukrainian officials, according to CBS News. "The United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace," they said. The United States also announced it would end a pause on military aid and intelligence sharing as a result of the talks.
On Tuesday Marco Rubio, Donald Trump’s secretary of state, national security advisor Mike Walz and Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak, met for more than eight hours. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the meeting had been “positive” and “productive”. The potential ceasefire agreement comes after Ukraine launched its largest ever drone attack against Russia on Monday night, killing at least three people and causing severe damage to apartment blocks and cars in Moscow.
