JEDDAH: Ukraine said talks with the United States in Saudi Arabia began “very constructively” on Tuesday, with a partial ceasefire with Russia on the table hours after Kyiv conducted its largest drone attack on Moscow in three years of war.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga held the Jeddah meeting, which Russia is not attending, as President Donald Trump ramped up pressure on Ukraine to end the war that began with Russia’s 2022 invasion.

The talks come just days after President Volodymyr Zelensky’s public dressing-down at the White House, after which the United States cut off military aid, intelligence sharing and access to satellite imagery.

Ukraine is hoping the offer of a partial ceasefire in the sky and at sea will persuade Washington to restore the assistance.

Ready to do everything to achieve peace, Ukrainian official says

“We are ready to do everything to achieve peace,” Ukrainian presidency chief of staff Andriy Yermak told reporters as he entered Tuesday’s meeting at a luxury hotel.

On the other side, Russia’s army said it intercepted 337 drones around the country as Kyiv officials said the “largest drone attack in history” was intended to push Putin to agree to the aerial and naval ceasefire.

“This is an additional signal to Putin that he should also be interested in a ceasefire in the air,” said Andriy Kovalenko, a national security council official responsible for countering disinformation.

Three people were killed in the attack, which both sides said was the biggest so far on Moscow.

Asked if the overnight drone attack could derail peace talks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Pes­k­ov said: “There are no negotiations yet, so there is nothing to disrupt here. It is absolutely impossible to talk about positions yet.”

“The Americans will find out only today, as they themselves say, from Ukraine to what extent Ukraine is ready for peace.”

Faced with Washington’s pressure, Ukraine will lay out its support for a limited ceasefire in the sky and at sea, a Ukrainian official said. Rubio signalled that the Trump administration would lik­ely be pleased by such a proposal. “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.”

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2025