Ukrainian diplomats left a meeting with their American counterparts on Tuesday, expressing an openness to a 30-day ceasefire with Russia, a turnaround from just days ago when Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky painfully failed to secure such a deal at the White House.

Following a public, heated discussion between President Donald Trump and Zelensky late last month, U.S. and Ukrainian officials have now settled on a 30-day ceasefire agreement with Russia, if Moscow decides to accept it.

Permanent end to the war in sight

Late last month, Zelensky got into a shouting match with Trump on camera after he interrupted Vice President JD Vance's response to a reporter's question in the Oval Office. The heated exchange cut short the visit as Trump had Zelensky removed from the White House. Zelensky had been set to sign a mineral exploitation deal with the U.S., but that fell through.

Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed in a Fox News interview on Monday that “Zelensky sent a letter to the president. He apologized for that whole incident that happened in the Oval Office."

“I think that it was an important step and there’s been a lot of discussion between our teams and the Ukrainians and the Europeans who are relevant to this discussion as well," he added.

After the fallout and reconciliation, Ukrainian diplomats signaled their willingness to agree to a 30-day preliminary ceasefire with Russia as part of their negotiations with American officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

"Ukraine expressed readiness to accept the U.S. proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and which is subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation," the U.S. State Department said in a joint statement with Ukrainian officials.

After the negotiations, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the effort a "concrete step" from Ukraine and expressed "hope that the Russians will reciprocate." “We hope that they’ll say yes, that they’ll say yes to peace. The ball is now in their court,” Rubio said.

“If they say no, then we’ll, unfortunately, know what the impediment is to peace here,” he added.

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz echoed Rubio’s statement, focusing on the goal of the talks. “[The Ukrainians] made concrete steps and concrete proposals, not only accepting our proposal for a full ceasefire,” Waltz said, “but we also got into substantive details on how this war is going to permanently end, what type of guarantees they’re going to have for their long-term security and prosperity, but also really looking at what it’s going to take to finally end this, the horrific fighting.”

Following the U.S.-Ukraine talks, Trump said Tuesday that he believes he will talk to Russia President Vladimir Putin this week, but added that "it takes two to tango." Trump also noted that he hopes to have a total ceasefire in the coming days. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that it has not ruled out contacts with representatives from the U.S. over the next several days.

Zelensky posted on X on Tuesday following the U.S.-Ukraine talks, explaining his country’s desire for peace. “Our position remains absolutely clear: Ukraine has been seeking peace from the very first second of this war, and we want to do everything to achieve it as soon as possible and in a reliable way—so that war does not return,” Zelensky wrote.

Peace in the skies, at sea, and the return of Ukranian children

“At this meeting with the Americans, Ukraine proposed three key points: silence in the skies—stopping missile strikes, bombs, and long-range drone attacks; silence at sea; real confidence-building measures in this whole situation, in which diplomacy is ongoing, which primarily means the release of prisoners of war and detainees—both military and civilian—and the return of Ukrainian children who were forcibly transferred to Russia,” he continued.

“During today’s talks, the U.S. side proposed taking an even bigger first step—a 30-day full interim ceasefire, not only stopping missile, drone, and bomb attacks, not only in the Black Sea, but also along the entire front line,” Zelensky later added. “Ukraine is ready to accept this proposal—we see it as a positive step and are ready to take it. Now, it is up to the United States to convince Russia to do the same. If Russia agrees, the ceasefire will take effect immediately.”

Also during the meeting between U.S. and Ukrainian officials, the former agreed to lift its pause on intelligence sharing and providing military assistance to Ukraine. The news comes after the U.S. paused all aid for Ukraine last week, including weapons that are on their way and in Poland, following the contentious meeting Trump had with Zelensky last month.

After that public falling-out, the Russian military ramped up its war machine, steadily advancing on the eastern front and increasing its missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and military targets alike, leaving civilian casualties in its wake, reportedly angering Trump. 

Russian missile attacks continued

“Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely ‘pounding’ Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED. To Russia and Ukraine, get to the table right now, before it is too late. Thank you!!!” Trump posted to his social media platform Truth Social on Friday.

But, it appears Moscow brushed off the threats. Following the message, Russian forces continued to fire missiles at Ukrainian cities, killing 21 people and injuring nearly 100 others—the deadliest day for civilians this year in Ukraine.

The Ukraine government also said Tuesday that it launched a massive drone strike against Moscow and the surrounding region in Russia, amid its peace talks with the U.S. At least three people were killed and 17 injured in the attack, which Russian officials said temporarily shut down Moscow's four airports.

A total of 343 drones were used in the attack against Russia with 91 of them flying over Moscow and others hovering over the surrounding areas.