US to resume security support to Ukraine as Kyiv says it is ready to accept ceasefire proposal

JEDDAH :The United States agreed on Tuesday to resume military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine after Kyiv said it was ready to support Washington’s proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia, the countries said in a joint statement.After more than eight hours of talks with Ukrainian officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would now take the offer to Russia, and the ball is in Moscow’s court.
“Our hope is that the Russians will answer ‘yes’ as quickly as possible, so we can get to the second phase of this, which is real negotiations,” Rubio told reporters, referring to US President Donald Trump.The Kremlin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago, and Russia, which has been making advances, now holds around a fifth of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.