US to lift pause on intel sharing with Ukraine, resume security assistance

Ukraine, meanwhile, has agreed to accept an immediate 30-day ceasefire in the war with Russia, a Reuters report said.

In Short

• Ukraine agrees to accept immediate 30-day ceasefire with Russia
• Ball is now in Moscow's court, US representative Marc Rubio says
• Ukraine hopes for practical outcomes from talks, say officials

The US has decided to lift pause on intelligence sharing with Ukraine and to also resume security assistance after representatives from the two countries held talks in Saudi Arabia's Jeddah on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Ukraine, meanwhile, agreed to accept an immediate 30-day ceasefire in the war with Russia, it added.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who, along with national security advisor Mike Waltz, is representing the Trump administration, said he would now take the offer to the Russians, and that the ball is now in Moscow's court.

"The President wanted this war to end yesterday. So, our hope is that the Russians will answer 'yes' as quickly as possible, so we can get to the second phase of this, which is real negotiations," Rubio was quoted by Reuters as telling reporters, referring to US President Donald Trump.

The Ukrainian side is led by Andriy Yermak, a top Volodymyr Zelenskyy aide. Zelenskyy, who met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia on Monday, will not be a part of the talks.

The US took the crucial decision after Ukrainian and American officials on Tuesday began their talks in Jeddah to find a path towards ending the war with Russia. This is the first engagement between both sides after a shouting match between Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump at the Oval Office last month.

The relief for Ukraine came a day after President Zelenskyy expressed hope that the talks in Jeddah will see "practical outcomes" and that Kyiv's position will be "fully constructive". Zelenskyy, who has earlier suggested an initial truce with Russia in the air and at sea, believes that the talks will "revive" Ukraine-US ties.

The US, Kyiv's main ally since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, has upended its policy on the war and piled pressure on Ukraine, stopping military assistance and pausing intelligence sharing with Kyiv.

Before the talks were held on Tuesday, Rubio had said that the talks with Ukraine would be important to gauge if Kyiv was willing to make concessions to attain a peace deal to end its war with Russia.

"We have to understand the Ukrainian position and just have a general idea of what concessions they'd be willing to make, because you're not going to get a ceasefire and an end to this war unless both sides make concessions," he told reporters.

THE CRUCIAL US-UKRAINE TALKS IN JEDDAH

The Jeddah talks come a month after US and Russian officials met in Riyadh in a rare encounter between the former Cold War foes. The discussions were focused largely on restoring ties after a near-total freeze on official contact under former US President Joe Biden, Trump's predecessor.

The negotiations also come after Ukraine launched its biggest drone attack on Moscow to date, which killed a person as Kyiv deployed at least 91 drones, forcing authorities to shut down airports and diverting dozens of flights, Russian officials said.

The timing of the strike, in which 337 drones were downed over Russia, according to Moscow, appeared aimed at showing Kyiv is still capable of major attacks after a spate of Russian missile attacks, one of which killed at least 14 people on March 8.