After Jeddah talks with US, Ukraine agrees to 30-day ceasefire; now ball in Russia’s court

Ukraine agreed to accept an immediate 30-day ceasefire in the conflict with Russia during talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia, the countries said in a joint statement.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would now take the offer to the Russians, and that the ball was now in Moscow's court. The US also will resume sharing intelligence with Kyiv.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was also in Saudi Arabia but did not participate in the talks, said the ceasefire was a “positive proposal”.

After eight hours of talks, the two sides issued the statement that said Ukraine was willing to accept the US proposal for an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire that could be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, subject to acceptance and implementation by Russia.

The two sides also said Washington and Kyiv agreed to conclude as soon as possible a comprehensive agreement for developing Ukraine’s critical mineral resources, a deal that has been in the works for weeks and was thrown into limbo by an acrimonious White House meeting between US President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy recently.