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American and Ukrainian representatives will meet in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, but the United States, Ukraine and Russia envisage very different paths to peace.
March 11, 2025, 12:00 a.m. ET
When Ukrainian and American officials sit down in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for their first high-level meeting since an Oval Office shouting match between their presidents last month, the goal will be finding a way to halt the bloodiest European war in generations.
But the United States, Ukraine and Russia appear to have very different ideas about what a cease-fire should look like.
Ukraine has proposed an immediate cessation of air and sea strikes, but wants security guarantees before its infantry lays down its arms. The United States is pressing for an immediate, comprehensive cease-fire. And Russia, which will not be at the talks, has signaled that it wants concessions of its own before halting the war it started.
If the Ukrainian proposal to halt the air and sea strikes is agreed to, it would bring about the first negotiated reduction in the fighting in three years of war, but the Trump administration has made clear it is looking for more. Ukraine has offered the unconditional truce on long-range strikes as a confidence building measure while continuing talks on a more comprehensive cease-fire.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, en route to the meetings in the seaside city of Jeddah, said Monday that Ukraine would have to make concessions over land that Russia has taken since 2014 as part of any peace agreement.
“The most important thing that we have to leave here with is a strong sense that Ukraine is prepared to do difficult things, like the Russians are going to have to do difficult things, to end this conflict or at last pause it in some way shape or form,” Mr. Rubio told reporters.
