The US’s top diplomat has said that he sees promise in Ukraine’s proposal for a partial ceasefire to end the war with Russia, ahead of talks in Saudi Arabia between US and Ukrainian officials later on Tuesday.
“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,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday.
Kyiv is expected to propose an aerial and naval truce with Russia during the negotiations in Jeddah.
Russia has previously rejected the idea of a temporary ceasefire, saying it was an attempt to buy time and prevent Ukraine’s military collapse.
In a separate development, at least two people have been killed in a “massive” overnight drone attack on Moscow and the capital region, Governor Andrei Vorobyev said. Seven apartments in a residential building were damaged.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 74 drones heading toward the city were shot down. The roof of one building was damaged by drone wreckage, he added.
The attack forced the suspension of one district train network, and flight restrictions at Moscow’s airports.
Follow live: Russia hit by drone attack ahead of US-Ukraine talks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky landed in Saudi Arabia on Monday to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, although he is not expected to play any formal role in the talks with the US.
In his video address late on Monday, Zelensky said he was hoping for a “practical result” at the talks, adding that the Ukrainian position would be “absolutely constructive”.
The Ukrainian team will be represented by Zelensky’s head of office Andriy Yermak, the country’s national security adviser and several foreign and defence ministers.
Rubio will represent the US delegation alongside National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
Before arriving in Jeddah on Monday, Rubio said that it was important to “establish clearly Ukraine’s intentions” for a peace deal and that the country would “have to be prepared to do difficult things like the Russians are going to have to do difficult things to end this”.
“I’m not going to set any conditions on what they have to or need to do,” he added. “We want to listen to see how far they’re willing to go, and compare that to what the Russians want, and then see how far apart we truly are.”
