RIYADH, Saudi Arabia
Ukraine has said it is ready to accept an immediate 30-day ceasefire with Russia proposed by the US, after a day of US-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia.
US Secretary of State Marco
Rubio said he would present the offer to Russia and that "the ball is in
their court".
Ukraine's President Volodomyr
Zelensky said it was now up to the US to convince Russia to agree to the
"positive" proposal.
Tuesday's talks in Jeddah were
the first official meeting between the two countries since the extraordinary
clash between Zelensky and US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
In a joint statement, the US
also said it would immediately restart intelligence sharing and security
assistance to Ukraine, which Washington had suspended after the unprecedented
meeting.
"Both delegations agreed
to name their negotiating teams and immediately begin negotiations toward an
enduring peace that provides for Ukraine's long-term security," the
US-Ukraine statement said.
Rubio told a press conference
in Jeddah late on Tuesday that he hoped Russia would accept the proposal.
Ukraine was "ready to
stop shooting and start talking," he said, and if Russia rejected the
offer "then we'll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace
here".
"Today we made an offer
that the Ukrainians have accepted, which is to enter into a ceasefire and into
immediate negotiations," he said.
"We'll take this offer
now to the Russians and we hope they'll say yes to peace. The ball is now in
their court," he added.
The offer of a 30-day
ceasefire goes beyond Zelensky's proposal for a partial truce in the sea and
sky.
The Ukrainian president
thanked Trump for "the constructiveness" of the talks in Jeddah.
In a video message, Zelensky
said Russia had to "show its willingness to stop the war or continue the
war".
"It is time for the full
truth," he added.
Moscow has not yet responded.
The Kremlin said earlier on Tuesday it would issue a statement after being
briefed by Washington on the outcome of the talks.
Russia launched a full-scale
invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Moscow currently controls about 20% of
Ukrainian territory.
At the White House, Trump told
reporters he would speak with President Putin, who would "hopefully"
agree to the proposal.
"It takes to two to
tango, as they say," Trump said, adding he hoped the deal would be agreed
in the next few days.
"We have a big meeting
with Russia tomorrow, and some great conversations hopefully will ensue."
He added that he was open to
inviting Zelensky back to Washington.
Russian Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia had not ruled out talks with US
representatives in the next few days, according to Russia's state-owned news
agency Tass.
Asked by a reporter if Trump
and Zelensky's relationship was "back on track," Rubio said he hoped
it was "peace" that was back on track.
"This is not Mean Girls,
this is not some episode of some television show," he said.
"Today people will die in
this war, they died yesterday and - sadly - unless there's a ceasefire, they
will die tomorrow."
The US and Ukrainian teams met
after overnight drone attacks killed
at least three people in Moscow - which Russia said showed Ukraine had
rejected using diplomacy to end the war.
Trump and Zelensky have also
agreed to finalise "as soon as possible" a critical minerals deal,
the joint statement said.
Ukraine has offered to grant
the US access to its rare earth mineral reserves in exchange for US security
guarantees - but this was derailed by the White House row.
Rubio said the deal had not
been the subject of Tuesday's talks, but had been negotiated with Ukrainian and
US treasuries.
The US delegation in Jeddah
also included US national security advisor Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy
Steve Witkoff.
Witkoff is due to travel to
Russia in the coming days, a source familiar with the planning told the BBC,
although this could change quickly.
The joint US-Ukraine statement
said Kyiv had "reiterated" that Europe should be involved in any
peace process.
The shift in America's
approach to the war - which has included locking Europe out of talks - has
prompted several emergency meetings between European leaders in recent
weeks.
The EU Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc welcomed Tuesday's "positive
development".
Achieving a swift end to the
war in Ukraine has been a key pledge for the US president.
He has placed increasing
pressure on Zelensky to accept a ceasefire, without offering the immediate
security guarantees insisted upon by the Ukrainian president.
On Friday, Trump issued a rare
threat of further sanctions against Moscow in a push for a deal. Russia is
already heavily sanctioned by the US over the war.
Trump said he was
contemplating the move because
"Russia is absolutely 'pounding' Ukraine on the battlefield right
now".
Meanwhile, the war continued
on the ground on Tuesday.
Three
men were killed in the Moscow region in what was described as the
largest drone attack on the Russian capital since the start of the full-scale
war in Ukraine.
A further 18 people, including
three children, were injured, health officials told Russian media.
The Russian defence ministry
said 337 drones were intercepted over Russia and 91 of them were shot down over
the Moscow region.
Ukrainian officials reported
Russian drone attacks on the capital Kyiv and several other regions.
Ukraine's air force said it
had shot down 79 of 126 drones launched by Russia, as well as an Iskander-M
ballistic missile.
It was not immediately clear
whether there were any casualties.
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