US lifts pause on Ukraine aid as Kyiv agrees to ceasefire proposal

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: The Trump administration has lifted its suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing for Ukraine, and Kyiv has signalled it is open to a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Russia, pending Moscow’s agreement, American and Ukrainian officials said.

The administration imposed the measures a week ago to push Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to enter talks to end the war with invading Russian forces.

National security adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Mario Rubio.Credit: Getty Images

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would present the ceasefire offer to the Kremlin following talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

“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 said.

The announcements emerged as senior US and Ukrainian officials held talks Jeddah, on ending Moscow’s three-year war against Kyiv and hours after Russia shot down over 300 Ukrainian drones. It was Ukraine’s biggest attack since the Kremlin ordered the full-scale invasion of its neighbour.

President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to travel to Moscow later this week where he could meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a person familiar with the matter who is not authorised to comment publicly. The person cautioned that scheduling could change.

Journalists were briefly allowed in a room where a senior Ukrainian delegation met Rubio, who smiled at the cameras and, when asked about his expectations for the meeting, gave a thumbs-up and replied, “Good.”

Across the table, Ukrainian officials, including the country’s top diplomat and defence chief, showed no facial expressions as the meeting got under way at a luxury hotel. However, Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak told reporters that the most important thing was “how to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.” He said security guarantees were important to prevent Russia from invading again in the future.

It was the first meeting between the two sides since the Oval Office blow-up between Trump and Zelensky last month.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister was also on hand, and American, Saudi, and Ukrainian flags could be seen in the background. Officials did not answer any of the journalists’ shouted questions.

The delegations met for about three hours in the morning before taking a break, and officials said the talks continued in the afternoon.

There was also no immediate comment from Ukrainian or US officials on the massive attack in which 343 drones targeted 10 Russian regions, leaving three people dead and 18 wounded, including three children, officials said.

Meanwhile, Russia launched 126 drones and a ballistic missile at Ukraine, the Ukrainian air force said, as part of Moscow’s relentless pounding of civilian areas during the war.

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the United States would inform Russia about the results of the Jeddah talks, which he described as “normal practice”.

Ukrainian firefighters work in Kharkiv following a Russian rocket attack on Friday. Russia has unleashed a furious bombardment at critical Ukrainian infrastructure, after the US decided to withhold intelligence assistance.Credit: AP

‘We are suffering’

On the streets of Kyiv, Ukrainians kept an eye on the Saudi talks.

Lena Herasymenko, a psychologist, said she accepted that compromises would be necessary to end the war, but 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 its guard down.

“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.

The meeting in Jeddah offered an opportunity for Kyiv officials to repair Ukraine’s relationship with the Trump.

The Kremlin is sticking to its conditions for peace and has not publicly offered any concessions.

Russia has said it’s ready to cease hostilities on the condition that Ukraine drops its bid to join NATO and recognises regions that Moscow occupies as Russian. Russia has captured nearly a fifth of Ukraine’s territory.

An image shared by Moscow’s regional governor showed cars burning after the Ukrainian drone attack.Credit: AP

Russian forces have held the battlefield momentum for more than a year, though at a high cost in infantry and armour, and are pushing at selected points along the 1000-kilometre front line, especially in the eastern Donetsk region, against Ukraine’s understrength and weary army.

Ukraine has invested heavily in developing its arms industry, especially high-tech drones that have reached deep into Russia.

Most of the Ukrainian drones fired overnight – 126 of them – were shot down over the Kursk region across the border from Ukraine, parts of which Kyiv’s forces control and 91 were shot down over the Moscow region, according to a statement by Russia’s Defence Ministry.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said over 70 drones targeted the Russian capital and were shot down as they were flying toward it – the biggest single attack on the city so far in the war. Regional governor Andrei Vorobyov said the attack damaged some residential buildings and cars.

Flights were temporarily restricted in and out of six airports, including Domodedovo, Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky, and airports in the Yaroslavl and Nizhny Novgorod regions.

AP

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