Jeddah Becomes New Seedbed for Ukraine Peace Building

JEDDAH, TUESDAY — Ukraine and the United States, Tuesday (11/3/2025), began preliminary peace talks regarding the Ukraine War. Ukraine's aggressor, Russia, was not present at the meeting. Russia will be informed by the U.S. about the outcomes of the negotiations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The closed meeting was facilitated by Saudi Arabia in the Red City, Jeddah. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not present in Jeddah, despite being in Saudi Arabia. The meeting was held during Ramadan.

The Ukrainian delegation consisted of Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Defense Minister Rustem Umerovto. The Head of the Presidential Office of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, was also part of the delegation.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government was represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. "We are ready to do everything to achieve peace," said Yermak, shortly before entering the meeting room.

As a victim, Ukraine is currently under pressure to stop the war. Donald Trump's administration tends to be more sympathetic toward Russia than Ukraine. In fact, Trump stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been misunderstood.

The pressure from the US includes the cessation of defense aid to Ukraine. Weapons, intelligence information, and US funds no longer flow to Ukraine. Ukraine's combat capability has been undermined as a result of this cessation.

Some speculate that Ukraine will offer a limited ceasefire. In return, Ukraine will still want security guarantees from the US or other countries. The guarantees are to prevent Russia from continuing to attack Ukraine.

"We do have proposals for a ceasefire in the air and a ceasefire at sea," a Ukrainian official told AFP on Monday, declining to be identified. "These are options for a ceasefire that are easy to implement and easy to monitor, and it is possible to start them."

In the meantime, Ukraine has offered Kyiv and Moscow a halt to long-range weapons fire. The limited ceasefire is part of a Russian-Ukrainian confidence-building effort while final peace talks continue.

The offer opens up the possibility of a drastic reduction in fighting. Today, the Ukrainian war is dominated by gunfire, missiles and rockets. Close-range firefights have long since diminished.

However, the US government wants more, namely a complete end to the war. However, Rubio indicated that the US government might be happy with the proposal, although it does not consider it enough.

If in the talks Ukraine and the US can reach an understanding that is acceptable to Trump, it is believed that this could speed up the White House's push for peace negotiations with Russia.

"I'm not saying that's enough, but those are the kinds of concessions you need to see to end the conflict," Rubio said before the meeting. "You're not going to get a ceasefire and end this war unless both sides make concessions."

Rubio and Waltz will assess Ukraine's presentation of a plan for peace talks with Russia. The U.S., he said, will not impose any conditions on Ukraine.

"I'm not going to put any conditions on what they should or need to do. I think we want to listen to see how far they're willing to go and then compare that to what Russia wants and see how far apart we really are," he said.

Zelenskyy has been proposing a partial ceasefire since last week. So far, the proposal has been supported by French President Emmanuel Macron. In addition, the exchange of prisoners of war is also part of the deal offered by Ukraine.

The proposal is said to be the most detailed of its kind. In return, Ukraine is asking for one immediate action from the US: the lifting of the suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing that Trump had halted.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine is committed to constructive dialogue. "For our part, we are fully committed to constructive dialogue, and we look forward to discussing and agreeing on the necessary decisions and steps," Zelenskyy said in his post on X.

"Realistic proposals are on the table. The key is to move quickly and effectively," Zelenskyy continued.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, quoted from the TASS news agency website, said that Washington would inform them of the results of the meeting in various ways.

"The US-Ukraine meeting will take place in Jeddah today. The US, which is seeking ways to reach a peaceful solution, will keep us updated," he said.

He added that when the results of the US-Ukraine talks were forwarded to Moscow, the Kremlin would inform the media about it.

Ukraine's European allies say Ukraine can only negotiate a peace deal with Russia if it is in a position of strength. They also say Kyiv should not rush into peace talks with an aggressor, in this case Russia.

Showing that its military capabilities have not diminished with the change in US attitude, hundreds of Ukrainian drones, Tuesday (11/3/2025) early morning targeted various targets in several cities in Russia. The Russian capital, Moscow, was one of the targets of the attack.

According to The Kyiv Independent, the Russian Defense Ministry claims that they have intercepted 337 Ukrainian drones in several regions. There were 91 in Moscow, 126 over Kursk Oblast, 38 over Bryansk Oblast, and others in Belgorod, Ryazan, Kaluga, Lipetsk, Oryol, Voronezh, and Nizhny Novgorod regions.

Kyiv said the attack should prompt Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept its call to halt long-range air strikes, a proposal Moscow has previously rejected.

"This is an additional signal to Putin that he should also be interested in a ceasefire in the air," said Andriy Kovalenko, head of the National Security Council's Center for Countering Disinformation.

Since returning to office, Trump and his cabinet have deemed it highly unlikely that Ukraine would reclaim territory that Russia has occupied since its invasion. Conversely, Russia cannot conquer Ukraine.

"Russia cannot conquer all of Ukraine, and it would be very difficult for Ukraine in a reasonable timeframe to force Russia back to where they were in 2014," he said. (AP/AFP/Reuters)