President Volodymyr Zelensky touched down in Saudi Arabia on Monday for a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived the same day for talks with Zelensky’s delegation in Jeddah.
Kyiv had proposed a land-and-sea ceasefire with Russia ahead of the negotiations, and Rubio said he welcomed the idea as long as other concessions were made.
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“We do have a proposal for a ceasefire in the sky and ceasefire at sea,” a Ukrainian official told AFP on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Because these are the ceasefire options that are easy to install and to monitor, and it’s possible to start with them.”
Rubio responded cautiously to the announcement: “I’m not saying that alone is enough, but it’s the kind of concession you would need to see in order to end the conflict,” he told reporters.
“You’re not going to get a ceasefire and an end to this war unless both sides make concessions.”
He added that the prospect of resuming Washington’s aid to Ukraine was a possibility if other conditions were met.
“I think the notion of the pause in aid, broadly, is something I hope we can resolve. Obviously, what happens tomorrow will be key to that,” Rubio said.
Before he left for the Middle East, Zelensky, who will not be a direct part of the talks between his aides and the negotiating team from Washington, repeated that Ukraine wanted peace.
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“Ukraine has been seeking peace since the very first second of the war, and we have always said that the only reason that the war is continuing is because of Russia,” he wrote on social media.
The Ukrainian leader said his negotiators will include Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, chief of staff Andriy Yermak, and Pavlo Palisa, a military commander and Yermak’s deputy.
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