After hours of exhausting negotiations that ended with Ukraine agreeing to a Trump administration proposal for a 30-day cease-fire with Russia, it was not till the delegation from Kyiv was flying residence that it received the information it was most determined to listen to: American army help was flowing once more.
“I’ll solely say that there isn’t a higher reward for such a loopy day than to be taught, whereas already sitting on the airplane, a brief dry affirmation” that army help had restarted, Gosha Tykhyi, a spokesman for Ukraine’s overseas minister, wrote on social media after talks with U.S. officers in Saudi Arabia.
The resumption of U.S. weapons deliveries and intelligence sharing was one end result of the assembly on Tuesday within the coastal metropolis of Jeddah. Ukraine agreeing to the cease-fire proposal was one other — however provided that Russia agrees to do the identical.
Whereas Ukrainians had been deeply skeptical that Russia would settle for the proposal for a cease-fire, the unfreezing of important American help was extensively seen as a optimistic improvement that might assist mend the ruptured relationship between Kyiv and Washington.
“I wish to thank President Trump for the constructive nature of the dialogue between our groups,” President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine mentioned in his nightly tackle to the nation — seemingly taking care to publicly specific gratitude after he was accused of not being appreciative sufficient throughout a disastrous Oval Workplace assembly final month with the American president that led to the suspension of U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing.
The sudden discount in help got here after weeks of rising stress because the White Home appeared to extra carefully align itself with the Kremlin whereas growing the stress on its ally.
Ever since, Ukraine has sought to easy over relations with the Trump administration. French and British officers coached the Ukrainian delegation earlier than the talks in Jeddah about learn how to converse with the People, a Ukrainian official with the delegation said.
Mr. Tykhyi mentioned {that a} key problem for the Ukrainian delegation was to “management feelings” forward of the assembly. As soon as the talks opened on Tuesday, he added, the Oval Workplace debacle additionally performed a task in figuring out “the boundaries of the house for compromises and influenced the negotiating positions.”
It took greater than eight hours of discussions to succeed in an settlement.
“It’s in these final hours of the endgame, when fatigue is already displaying, {that a} method out of the deadlock and even tough compromises instantly develop into potential,” he mentioned
On the conclusion of the conferences, Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned that the burden was now on Russia to finish the conflict.
“The ball is now of their court docket,” he mentioned.
Mr. Zelensky echoed that sentiment in his speech to the nation. “Russia should additionally present whether or not it is able to finish the conflict — or proceed it,” he mentioned. “The time has come for the entire reality.”
If Russia does comply with the cease-fire, the problem will probably be to make the peace enduring, Mr. Zelensky mentioned.
The Kremlin has not mentioned whether or not it should comply with the 30-day cease-fire. However the Ukrainian skepticism is knowledgeable by historical past: Russia violated two earlier cease-fires, reached in 2014 and 2015, and denied an intention to invade simply days earlier than doing so in 2022.
“In my view, it is going to be like earlier than after they launched the cease-fire,” mentioned Oleksandr Kovinko, a soldier combating in japanese Ukraine. “We adhere to it, the enemy doesn’t. And the way it will truly be, it’s exhausting to think about and predict.”
And for the Ukrainians who really feel betrayed by the Trump administration’s current strikes, there was a concern that the US may not be an trustworthy dealer.
“I’ve no hope that the usA. has not utterly shifted to Russia’s facet,” mentioned Yulia Podkydysheva, a hospice employee reached by cellphone in Chernivtsi, in western Ukraine.
Everybody, Ms. Podkydysheva mentioned, may use 30 days “to breathe some air and see the sunshine” after three years of unrelenting bombardment. However she doesn’t assume that relaxation will final.
“It can almost definitely be about some subsequent spherical of wrestle,” she mentioned.
Liubov Sholudko contributed reporting.
