JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia—The Trump administration said it would immediately lift a pause on intelligence sharing and military support to Ukraine following high-level talks with U.S. officials that led Kyiv to agree to a 30-day cease-fire.
The cease-fire plan, which is contingent on Russian acceptance, envisions opening negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow on halting the war, according to a U.S.-Ukraine joint statement issued Tuesday.
“Today we made an offer that the Ukrainians have accepted, which is to enter into a cease-fire and into immediate negotiations to end this conflict in a way that’s enduring and sustainable and accounts for their interests, their security, their ability to prosper as a nation,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio .
He added: “We will take this offer now to the Russians and we hope that they’ll say ‘yes,’ that they’ll say ‘yes’ to peace. The ball is now in their court.”
President Trump reinforced that message at the White House, saying the next step was to secure Russian President Vladimir Putin’s support for stopping the fighting.
“Now we have to go to Russia and hopefully President Putin will agree to that also and we can get this show on the road,” Trump said, after the Jeddah talks concluded. “We want to get that war over with.”
The Tuesday meeting was the first high-level discussions between U.S. and Ukrainian officials since a combative Oval Office encounter last month in which Trump accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of being unwilling to negotiate a peace settlement with Moscow.
After that White House session, Trump cut off arms shipments and reduced the flow of intelligence to Kyiv. That move was followed by an accelerated Russian and North Korean campaign to roll back Ukrainian gains in Kursk , a portion of Russian territory seized by Ukrainian forces last year.
Zelensky’s top adviser, Andriy Yermak , who led the talks for Ukraine, said in a post on X after the Jeddah talks: “A just peace is key for us. We want a lasting peace.” He called the meeting with the U.S. “constructive.”
Ukraine had proposed a partial cease-fire that would have halted long-range air and drone strikes and military attacks in the Black Sea. But Kyiv agreed to the American proposal for a comprehensive truce “not only regarding missiles, drones and bombs, not only in the Black Sea, but also along the entire front line,” Zelensky said in a video address. He thanked Trump for the “constructive nature of the dialogue.”
“We are ready to take such a step,” Zelensky said. “The United States of America must convince Russia to do this.”
During the 30 days of the truce, the U.S. and Ukraine should work toward a framework for security guarantees, he added. A key Ukrainian goal in further negotiations is the release of prisoners as well as Ukrainian civilians being held by Russia.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha described the agreement as an attempt to begin the process of ending the war on fair terms and demonstrate “who is genuinely interested in peace.”
Hours before the Jeddah meeting, Ukraine launched the largest drone attack of the war, targeting the Russian capital and other regions. Moscow authorities said the strikes killed at least three people and injured 18 more.
National-security adviser Mike Waltz said Ukraine and Russia had each picked delegations and that the U.S. was moving quickly to try to advance the potential talks.
There was no immediate comment from Russia, which has recently doubled down on some of its core demands. Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected a British and French proposal to deploy peacekeeping troops in Ukraine to ensure that a future agreement halting the fighting isn’t violated by Russia—a European proposal that Trump has welcomed.
The Trump administration and Kyiv have been discussing an agreement for Ukraine to share its mineral wealth with the U.S., but that deal wasn’t the main subject of the Saudi Arabia talks. Rubio said Trump and Zelensky had agreed to complete the mineral accord soon.
Rubio and Waltz represented the U.S. in the daylong meeting in Jeddah . The Ukrainian side included Yermak, Sybiha, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Pavlo Palisa, a Ukrainian military officer who works for the presidential administration.
A number of thorny issues are likely to confront the two sides, as well as the White House, in the event Russia accepts the cease-fire and negotiations begin in earnest.
Ukraine has sought Western security assurances, which Trump has been reluctant to provide, to deter Russia from violating an agreement. Waltz said his talks with the Ukrainians involved detailed discussions “on how this war is going to permanently end, what type of guarantees they’re going to have for their long-term security and prosperity.”
Waltz didn’t provide examples of guarantees that had been discussed, but he said that American officials and the Ukrainians were “really looking at what it’s going to take to finally end this, the horrific fighting.”
A related question is whether the White House is prepared to provide some sort of military support as a “backstop” for British and French peacekeepers in the event they are deployed to Ukraine, as the Europeans have requested.
It remains unclear whether the U.S. administration is prepared to take steps to pressure Russia. Trump has periodically threatened to impose tariffs or use other forms of economic pressure on the Kremlin if it balks at agreeing to a peace deal. But Trump has taken no concrete steps to pressure Moscow since his inauguration.
Before the start of the meeting, the Ukrainian and U.S. officials expressed cautious optimism. Yermak said Ukraine wanted to achieve a lasting peace while stressing that some form of security guarantees would ultimately be necessary. Rubio made a thumbs-up gesture during a break in the talks.
The U.S. will have an opportunity in coming days to engage Western allies that have supported Ukraine. Rubio will fly to Canada on Wednesday for a meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven nations. On Thursday, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary-General Mark Rutte is scheduled to visit the White House. Meanwhile, Waltz said he would talk with his Russian counterpart.
Write to Michael R. Gordon at michael.gordon@wsj.com and Isabel Coles at isabel.coles@wsj.com
