US to resume aid to Ukraine, which agrees to 30-day ceasefire

BarcelonaAgreement in Saudi Arabia. The United States will again send aid to Ukraine, which has accepted the American proposal for a 30-day ceasefire. This was explained by the White House national security adviser, Mike Waltz, and the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, in a press conference after the round of talks. "Now the ball is in Russia's court," Rubio said. "We hope that Russia says yes to Ukraine's proposal to stop the fighting," he said. At the moment, a start date for the truce has not been set, but the White House hopes that it will happen "as soon as possible." On the other hand, both countries have committed to work to agree on a pact for minerals

With a proposal to negotiate, but with a declaration of intentions, the Ukrainian delegation arrived this morning in Jidah, in Saudi Arabia, a few hours after Kiev launched 337 drones hit Moscow suburbs in most massive attack since start of full-scale invasion.

Delegations of U.S. and Ukrainian officials met behind closed doors on Tuesday 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 newspaper this morning. The Guardian Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

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 this 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, Andriy Kovalenko, 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 Zelsnki of a "complete lack of political will towards peace and war."

Who sits at the table?

Although neither Trump nor Zelinsky attended the meeting, the leaders delegated their positions to senior officials they trusted. The Ukrainian delegation was headed 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 one at the meeting between Zelensky and Trump at the White House. The few you will comment that they have escaped from the room in the negotiations in progress has been a brief note from Mike Waltz between passages, stating: "En hi estem acostant", and a pair of cryptic misses that Zelensky's cabinet chief has managed to find through the words: "Estem treballant" and a subsequent emoji of a boxed mans, accompanied by an official photograph of the diplomatic delegations.

But some analysts predicted that the length of the conversation was a good sign. Yuriy Sak, political advisor to the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine, sees it as a "sign of hope" that the meeting has been extended for more than three hours, according to what he says on the BBC.

What's at stake?

The main objective of the meeting on Ukraine is to make peace with the Trump administration and achieve the partial ceasefire that Zelensky is calling for. Specifically, this truce would cover the Black Sea and ban long-range missiles, but it would also include the release of prisoners, one of Vladimir Putin's demands.

Although it is not expected to be discussed in these talks, it is expected that Ukraine's gesture of sitting down to negotiate will be accompanied by concessions on the part of Kiev, such as the Russian annexation of illegally occupied territories or Ukraine's commitment not to integrate.

On the other hand, the Republican administration wants to ensure some benefit for its intervention in the conflict. That is why Kiev has shown itself willing to sign the deal to give the United States access to Ukraine's critical minerals and rare earths. "As we have told President Donald Trump, Ukraine is and will work exclusively constructively for a quick and solid peace," Zelensky said on Thursday. But Zelensky would like this concession to be made in exchange for security guarantees from the United States, which would agree to keep troops on Ukrainian territory once peace is signed.

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