Ukraine accepts US 30-day ceasefire proposal, resumes military aid

Barcelona / WashingtonAgreement in Saudi Arabia. Ukraine has accepted the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia, while Washington has pledged to resume sending military aid to Kiev. The ceasefire proposal would also include stopping fighting on the front line and not just ending air and sea attacks, as initially suggested by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This is detailed in the joint statement issued by the Ukrainian and US delegations, meeting in Khidah, Saudi Arabia.

White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained in a press conference after nearly nine hours of talks that they also agreed to a ceasefire with Russia. intelligence service will be re-established. "Now the ball is in Russia's court," Rubio said, who has promised to pass on a proposal to Moscow. "We hope that Russia says yes to Ukraine's proposal to stop the fighting," he added. For the moment, no date has been set for the start of the truce, which Russia has yet to accept, but the White House hopes it will happen "as soon as possible."

After the announcement, Donald Trump said he hopes Moscow will accept the agreement. "Ukraine has accepted it and I hope Russia will accept it as well," the US president told reporters. He also said he expects a meeting with Russia "today or tomorrow." When asked about the possibility of receiving Zelensky back at the White House, after shouting him out two weeks ago, Trump has replied: "Yes, of course."

In order to rebuild bridges with Washington, Ukraine has had to give in to all of Trump's demands, both in terms of negotiations and the agreement on Ukrainian minerals. Trump assured that he will speak with Putin this week about the ceasefire. "It takes two dancers to tango," said the American president, demonstrating the decision-making power that Russia is having in the negotiation process.

"Ukraine is ready for peace," Zelensky said in a statement, in which he reinforces the idea that it is now up to Russia to "show its willingness to end the war." The Ukrainian leader also thanked Trump for "the constructive capacity of the conversation" between their teams.

On the other hand, both countries have urged each other to work to agree a pact for minerals, but they said that this issue was not discussed at the meeting. "The respective presidents have given instructions to the corresponding members of their governments so that this comes to fruition," Rubio said.

The ghost of air strikes

The Ukrainian delegation arrived in Jeddah on Tuesday morning, a few hours after Kiev launched 337 drones hit Moscow suburbs in most massive attack since start of full-scale invasion. Delegations of American and Ukrainian officials have met behind closed doors with the intention of getting down to work on a possible peace agreement with Russia. "The ceasefire has never been so close," predicted an article in the Guardian Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff.

The meeting is the latest diplomatic effort between Kiev and Washington to try to remedy the deterioration of their relations. After the tense President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance boo Zelensky at the White House –in which they failed to sign the agreement for the transfer of minerals–, it had been all bad news for Kiev. The repeated accusations of the Republican president to his Ukrainian counterpart of not being willing to seek peace were materialized with the end of Washington's military aid and with the decision to suspend intelligence support.

Ukraine came to the negotiating table willing to give up its minerals and with a concrete proposal: an air and sea truce. In fact, the air offensive this morning was designed to send that message to the Kremlin: "Russian President Vladimir Putin should be interested in a ceasefire in the air." This is what the head of the Ukrainian military's Center for Combating Disinformation, Andri Kovalenko, has warned. "It's not just about oil refineries, drones can target Moscow at any time," said this senior Ukrainian official.

For the Kremlin, however, the coincidence of the attack with peace talks shows that Ukraine has rejected diplomatic means to end the war. "There is no doubt that the drone attack was planned and timed to coincide with today's talks between the US and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia to resolve the conflict," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, accusing Zelensky of a "complete lack of political will towards peace and war."

Who sits at the table?

Although neither Trump nor Zelensky attended the meeting, the leaders delegated their positions to senior officials of their trust. The Ukrainian delegation was led by Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president's chief of staff and right-hand man; Andriy Sibiha, the foreign minister; and Rustem Umerov, the defense minister. Facing them sat White House national security adviser Mike Waltz and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. A delegation from Saudi Arabia was also present.

The delegations adopted a media approach that was the opposite of the Zelensky-Trump meeting at the White House. The only thing that escaped the room with the ongoing negotiations was a brief note in the corridors by Mike Waltz, who said: "We are getting closer." There were also a couple of cryptic messages that Zelensky's chief of staff has released through the networks – "We are working" – and a subsequent emoticon of a handshake, accompanied by an official photograph of the diplomatic delegations.

In parallel, the Ukrainian president – who despite not being present at the negotiating table has traveled to Saudi Arabia – has met behind closed doors with Prince Mohammed bin Salman, with whom he has discussed how to achieve a "sustained, fair and comprehensive" peace.

What's at stake?

The main objective of the meeting on Ukraine was to make peace with the Trump administration, as Kiev is at the mercy of its demands both in terms of military support and in relation to possible security guarantees for compliance with the ceasefire. The Republican administration wants to profit from its intervention in the conflict and, having the upper hand, Kiev has had no choice but to show its willingness to sign the agreement to give Washington access to its critical minerals. However, ideally for Zelensky, this concession should be made in exchange for security guarantees from the United States to protect the country from a possible new Russian attack in the future. However, if Russia were to finally accept the 30-day ceasefire and sit down to negotiate, everything indicates that Ukraine would have to make painful concessions, such as abandoning the territories illegally occupied by Russia or withdrawing from NATO.