Ukraine and the United States are making a decisive acceleration towards peace, overcoming the rift that occurred between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky in their last face-to-face meeting in the Oval Office at the White House.
The Jeddah summit between delegations from the two governments went better than expected. With a joint statement at the end of a marathon of negotiations that sealed a potential turning point after more than three years of conflict, Kiev accepted the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, and Washington in return promised to immediately resume its military aid and intelligence-sharing.
"Now the US understands our arguments," Zelensky said.
This was also confirmed by the words of the American president, who for the first time threw the ball into Putin's court.
"I hope he agrees with the ceasefire plan. I will speak to him perhaps this week, with the hope of achieving a total ceasefire in the coming days."
Meanwhile, A2 CNN reports that new contacts between Russian and American officials will begin, but Trump has already announced that he will invite Zelensky to the White House again.
The day in Jeddah was long and intense. The first meeting between the Americans and Ukrainians was called after what happened on February 28 in the Oval Office, which had cost Kiev the interruption of military and intelligence assistance.
Two high-level delegations met in the Saudi city, showing that both sides were serious about their goals. A2 CNN writes that for the US, it was National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, for Kiev it was the head of the presidential office Andriy Yermak and the ministers of foreign and defense, Andriy Sybiga and Rustem Umerov.
"We are ready to do everything to achieve peace," were Yermak's first words to reporters, before plunging into negotiations in the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton hotel.
An "open" stance, with the hope of a "constructive and friendly conversation with our American partners", assured Zelensky's advisor, while the day before the Ukrainian president had paved the way by meeting with Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to consolidate Saudi mediation.
Before the Jeddah summit, Kiev had offered a limited ceasefire, in the air and at sea, as a first step towards a broader agreement with Russia, while the US had demanded that the Ukrainians make territorial concessions to Moscow and sign a minerals agreement with Washington. And it was precisely on the ceasefire and rare earths that the first session of talks, which lasted three hours, focused, reports A2 CNN.
By late morning, Waltz and Rubio reported that the discussion was “making progress.” “Everything is going well, many issues have been addressed,” a Ukrainian official revealed. The talks resumed in the afternoon, lasting a total of more than nine hours.
The long negotiations have yielded very concrete results. In the joint statement, the two sides announced that "Ukraine expressed its readiness to accept the US proposal for an immediate and temporary 30-day ceasefire, which may be extended by mutual agreement of the parties and is subject to simultaneous acceptance and implementation by the Russian Federation". A2 CNN writes that Washington will also resume "security assistance to Ukraine and lift the pause in intelligence exchange".
Trump then got the Ukrainians' approval to conclude as soon as possible a comprehensive agreement on the development of critical mineral resources, also to "compensate for the cost of American aid." Kiev managed to insert into the statement that "European partners will be involved in the peace process." And it is European leaders who "welcomed the news from Jeddah."
At this stage, it will still be the United States that will be talking to Moscow. "The ball is now in the Russian court," Rubio said clearly, and new direct contacts at the official level are being planned, as confirmed by Moscow.
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff is also expected in the Russian capital on Thursday.
As for the Kremlin, we are waiting with the caution that has characterized Putin so far, despite the new harmony with Trump. A few hours before the start of the Saudi summit, among other things, Dmitry Peskov had denounced a massive drone attack on Moscow, warning that in this way Kiev could "compromise peace."
Russia then launched a drone strike on Kiev, Kharkiv and Sumy. This was reported by the respective mayors on Telegram, quoted by Ukrainian media. The mayor of the capital, Vitaly Klichko, said that air defenses were in action over his city. The attack comes hours after the US and Ukraine reached an agreement on a proposed 30-day ceasefire, which must now be handed over to Russia. (A2 Televizion)
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