US to resume security support to Ukraine as Kyiv says it is ready to accept ceasefire proposal

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JEDDAH — The United States agreed on Tuesday to resume military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine after Kyiv said it was ready to support Washington’s proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia, the countries said in a joint statement.

After more than eight hours of talks with Ukrainian officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. would now take the offer to Russia, and the ball is in Moscow’s court.

“Our hope is that the Russians will answer ‘yes’ as quickly as possible, so we can get to the second phase of this, which is real negotiations,” Rubio told reporters, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Kremlin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago, and Russia, which has been making advances, now holds around a fifth of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.

Rubio said Washington wanted a full agreement with both Russia and Ukraine “as soon as possible.”

“Every day that goes by, this war continues, people die, people are bombed, people are hurt on both sides of this conflict,” he said.

How Moscow would respond was far from certain.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is open to discussing a peace deal, but he and his diplomats have repeatedly stated they are against a ceasefire and would seek a deal that safeguards Russia’s long-term security.

Putin told his Security Council on January 20 that there “should not be a short truce, not some kind of respite for regrouping forces and rearmament with the aim of subsequently continuing the conflict, but a long-term peace.”

He has also ruled out territorial concessions and said Ukraine must withdraw fully from four Ukrainian regions claimed and partly controlled by Russia.

“Any agreements – with all the understanding of the need for compromise – on our terms, not on American,” an influential Russian lawmaker said on Wednesday.

The Russian foreign ministry said after the U.S-Ukraine talks on Tuesday only that it did not rule out contacts with U.S. representatives.