Ukraine Backs US Proposal for 30-Day Ceasefire

JEDDAH, WEDNESDAY - Ukraine supports the United States' proposal for a 30-day ceasefire and negotiations with Russia as a result of the US-Ukraine meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday (11/3/2025). Ukraine's positive response was met by the US with the lifting of the suspension of military aid while simultaneously encouraging efforts to end the three-year-long war.

"Today, we submitted a proposal that has been accepted by Ukraine to enter a ceasefire phase and immediately negotiate with Russia. Next, we will bring this agreement to the Russian side. The ball is in their court to accept the ceasefire and negotiate," said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to reporters after a nine-hour marathon meeting with the Ukrainian delegation at a hotel in the city of Jeddah.

He continued, if the Russian side rejects the proposal, peace will certainly not be achieved. Rubio stated that the US also agreed to continue providing military aid and intelligence information following the heated exchange between President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on February 28, 2025.

"Every day as the war continues, people will die, people are bombed and injured on both sides of this conflict," said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The Russian side, following the Ukraine–US meeting in Saudi Arabia, stated that it does not rule out the possibility of meeting with the US delegation soon. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova indicated that talks with the US might take place this week.

President Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to travel to Moscow this week to meet with Russian President Putin. Meanwhile, at the White House, President Trump stated that he is ready to welcome President Zelenskyy back and plans to contact Russian President Vladimir Putin this week.

On the issue of peace, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is open to discussing it. However, Putin and Russian diplomats have repeatedly said they reject a ceasefire and only want to find an agreement that guarantees Russia's long-term security.

Putin also refused to discuss areas already captured and demanded that Ukraine withdraw from four eastern regions partly controlled by Russia.

Meanwhile, asked about the possibility of a large-scale ceasefire, Trump said he hoped a major deal would be reached in the coming days. "We have a big meeting with Russia scheduled for tomorrow. Serious talks with good results we expect," Trump said.

In a joint statement after the meeting, Ukraine and the US also said they would soon reach an agreement to give the United States access to Ukraine's mineral wealth. That was President Trump's demand in return for tens of billions of dollars in arms aid to Ukraine that has been provided since President Joe Biden.

Hours before the US-Ukraine talks in Jeddah, Ukraine launched a major attack on Moscow and its surrounding areas. Ukraine used 337 attack drones, resulting in three deaths and four airports around Moscow being closed for several hours.

Zelenskyy was expected to sign the mineral deal at the White House in late February, but it fell through due to chaos. The cause was that President Trump and Vice President Vance accused President Zelenskyy of being ungrateful for US aid, leading to a heated argument.

From Ukraine, Zelenskyy expressed his thanks to President Trump for the ceasefire proposal which he viewed as positive and stated that now the US must convince Russia.

"The US side understands our views and proposals. I thank President Trump for the constructive dialogue with the Ukrainian delegation," Zelenskyy said in a daily statement in Kyiv on Tuesday evening.

Zelenskyy's adviser Andry Yerman said in Jeddah that Ukraine had made clear its stance on peace. "Russia must make it clear whether they want peace or not. Whether they want to end the war they started," Yermak told reporters after the meeting.

Meanwhile, Trump's National Security Adviser Mike Waltz stressed that Trump is pushing for peace. "We are no longer talking about if the war ends. We are now talking about when the war ends," Waltz told reporters while accompanying Secretary of State Rubio.

Waltz added that he would soon meet with the Russian side. He praised Ukraine for accepting the proposal to end the attacks between Russia and Ukraine.

Rubio then brought the Jeddah achievement to Canada when he met with G7 foreign ministers. Rubio urged the G7 to avoid confrontational language in dealing with Russia to prevent the situation from escalating as peace talks are discussed.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has proposed deploying European troops to Ukraine as part of a peace deal, praised the outcome of the Jeddah talks, but insisted that Ukraine still needed a Western military umbrella.

British Prime Minister Keir Stammer hailed the Ukraine-US deal as a breakthrough, while Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said it was now up to Russia to make peace or not.

Meanwhile, in Poland, which has a history of strained relations with Russia, PM Donald Tusk praised the US-Ukraine deal as an important step towards peace.

In Kyiv, Lena Herasymenko, a psychologist, said reaching a compromise was necessary to end the war. But it had to be reasonable.

"We have suffered great losses in this war. We do not know how many more victims there will be. Children are already suffering and we do not know what impact this war will have on future generations," Herasymenko said.

Ukrainian soldier Oleksandr said the ceasefire would only benefit Russia. “They will have time to re-arm and prepare for war and continue the offensive,” he said.

In Russia, on the other hand, right-wing politicians and military bloggers oppose the ceasefire plan because they see it as benefiting Ukraine. “We don’t need a ceasefire,” said hardline Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin.

Viktor Sobolev, a retired general who is now active in the Russian Parliament (Duma), made a similar statement. He said that the 30-day ceasefire gave Ukraine the opportunity to add weapons and consolidate troops before returning to war.

Meanwhile, Sergei Markov, a political commentator, hopes that the Russian government will demand a halt to Western arms shipments to Ukraine. This effort must be part of implementing a ceasefire. (AFP/Reuters/AP)