Ukraine, US discuss partial truce

JEDDAH, Mar 11 (AFP): 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 attended the meeting in Jeddah-which Russia was not participating in-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.

"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.

Kyiv officials said the "largest drone attack in history", in which hundreds of drones slammed into Moscow and other areas overnight, was intended to push Russian President Vladimir 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. Russia's army said it intercepted 337 drones around the country.

Zelensky, who met Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler in Jeddah on Monday, left the White House late last month without signing an agreement pushed by Trump that would give the United States control over Ukrainian mineral resources.

Zelensky has said he is still willing to sign, although Rubio said it would not be the focus of Tuesday's meeting.

Rubio, who is accompanied by national security advisor Mike Waltz, said the aid suspension was "something I hope we can resolve" in the talks.

"Hopefully, we'll have a good meeting and good news to report," Rubio said.

Rubio said the United States had not cut off intelligence for defensive operations.

"The meeting with the US team started very constructively, we continue our work," Yermak said on social media Tuesday.