Ukraine pledges immediate ceasefire — if Russia follows suit Meduza summarizes key takeaways from latest Saudi Arabia talks, including U.S. resumption of military aid to Kyiv

Ukraine says it’s ready to accept a proposed 30-day ceasefire with Russia, provided Moscow abides by it too, the Ukrainian and U.S. delegations announced in a joint statement following talks in Jeddah on Tuesday.

According to the joint statement shared by Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, Kyiv has “expressed readiness” to accept a U.S. proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire, which could be extended by mutual agreement if Russia agrees to the terms and implements them simultaneously. “The United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace,” the statement reads.

The statement also says the United States will “immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine.”

The delegations reportedly discussed a potential prisoner exchange between Kyiv and Moscow, as well as the return of Ukrainian children forcibly deported to Russia. In addition, the presidents of both countries agreed to finalize a rare-earth metals agreement “as soon as possible.”

The U.S. also announced that it has “committed to discussing these specific proposals” with Russia. The Financial Times reported that there are no plans to continue the talks for a second day.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented on the talks: “The ball is in [Russia’s] court.” Rubio expressed hopes that Russia would say yes to the ceasefire, adding that if Moscow rejects the proposal, “then we’ll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here.”

In turn, national security adviser Mike Waltz said that he’d speak to his Russian counterparts in the coming days.

“The American side understands our arguments, accepts our proposals, [and] I want to thank President Trump for the constructive negotiations between our teams,” Zelensky said in his evening address. “Ukraine accepts this [ceasefire] proposal, we consider it positive and are ready to take this step. The United States must convince Russia [...] to agree, and if Russia agrees, then the ceasefire will work.”