Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
The US and Ukraine are currently locked in crunch talks in Saudi Arabia to try and find a way to end Russia’s invasion – in the wake of Kyiv’s largest drone attack of the war.
At least three people were killed – and around 18 injured – in the strikes, which included 343 drones launched against Russia. More than 90 were aimed at the capital Moscow and the surrounding region. Russia has repeatedly launched mass missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities across three years of fighting, launching 126 drones and a ballistic missile on Tuesday.
One of the proposals that Ukrainian officials brought to the talks in the port city of Jeddah was a truce in the air and sea that would halt such attacks and Ukrainian officials have made clear that the assault was a signal to Vladimir Putin to take that seriously.
“The largest drone attack in history was carried out on Moscow and the Moscow region,” said Andriy Kovalenko, a Ukrainian national security council official responsible for countering disinformation, adding: “This is an additional signal to Putin that he should also be interested in a ceasefire in the air.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is not at the talks, hopes the meeting in Jeddah will revive “pragmatic” US ties after a fiery clash with Donald Trump at the White House almost two weeks ago which descended into a 10-minute argument.
“The meeting has begun very constructively,” Andriy Yermak, Mr Zelensky’s chief of staff who is leading the Ukrainian delegation, wrote on Telegram,. He later added that the discussions were a “work in progress” before a cryptic message containing pictures of the two delegations and a handshake emoji. Ahead of the talks, Mr Yermak said Ukraine stands “ready to do everything to achieve peace”.
US national security advisor Mike Waltz, who is part of the Washington delegation, said during the afternoon that the negotiations with Ukraine were “getting there” – with the talks stretching beyond six hours.
In the wake of the White House spat, the United States stopped military assistance and paused intelligence sharing with Kyiv, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Mr Trump on Monday that he hoped those moves could be reversed as a result of the talks.
The Oval Office clash also left the signing of a bilateral minerals deal and Kyiv’s bid to obtain security guarantees from Washington in limbo. Mr Trump has framed the mineral deal, which was also part of the discussions on Tuesday, as key to continued US support and compensation for many billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine.
Ahead of the talks, Mr Yermak told reporters that security guarantees remained key for Ukraine, but suggested they might only be looked at in a preliminary way on Tuesday. “Most important is how to start this process and we are very open,” he said.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who is leading the delegation from Washington, smiled for the cameras ahead of the talks and when asked what his expectations for the meeting were, he gave a thumbs up and replied, “Good.” While traveling to Jeddah, Mr Rubio said he would not be proposing any specific measures to secure an end to the conflict but rather wanted to hear from Ukraine about what they would be willing to consider.
“I’m not going to set any conditions on what they have to or need to do,” Mr Rubio said. “I think we want to listen to see how far they’re willing to go and then compare that to what the Russians want and see how far apart we truly are.”
Ukraine has said that the sea and air ceasefire proposal is aimed at testing Moscow’s willingness to end the war. Ukrainian officials say the truce would cover the Black Sea, which would bring safer shipping, as well long-range missile strikes that have hit civilians in Ukraine, in addition to the release of prisoners of war.
Putin has not publicly offered any concessions and as the Jeddah talks were underway, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told an audience at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics that Russians should not get carried away by what Mr Trump is doing over Ukraine, even though its actions may sometimes look hopeful for Moscow. He called on the population to always “prepare for the worst.”
“Don’t rush to put on rose-tinted spectacles,” he said. “We always need to hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. And we must always be ready to defend our interests”.
Ukraine’s anxious European allies are watching for any sign of an improvement, or further deterioration, in Kyiv’s relations with Mr Trump’s administration, while preparing to up their own defence spending and support for Ukraine if the US completely pulls away from its role as Kyiv’s biggest military supporter.
Army chiefs from more than 30 countries also met in Paris on Tuesday, for talks on creating an international force to deter future Russian aggression once a ceasefire is established. They include troop size, location and, crucially, military options in the event of a transgression.
The Paris meeting was the most significant culmination so far of French and British efforts to rally nations under a so-called “coalition of the willing” to safeguard Ukraine by establishing a reassurance and deterrence force to dissuade Russia from invading again.
French President Emmanuel Macron said it would be held in “close coordination” with Nato. The talks include nearly all 32 Nato countries — notably without the United States — as well as Commonwealth nations and Asian powers Japan and South Korea, said a French military official. Participants will be invited to spell out what their militaries might be able and willing to contribute, be that troops, weapons or other assistance.
France’s defence minister, Sebastien Lecornu, said ahead of the meeting that Ukraine’s own army remained “the main security guarantee” for the country, adding that France “will refuse any demilitarisation of the Ukrainian army”.
Dutch defence minister Ruben Brekelmans said that “Europe is standing at a crossroads” in a stark message to his colleagues. “Putin has made very clear that Ukraine is not his final stop on his campaign to the imperial past,” Mr Brekelmans said.
“He will continue his aggressive, aggressive efforts to increase the influence and the territory of the Russian Empire towards his dream to reestablish a Russkiy Mir, or a Russian world… It’s a dream for Putin, and it’s a nightmare for the rest of Europe.”
“It’s time we let Putin wake up to the fact that his dreams do not match reality,” he added.
Elsewhere, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk laid out some details around his plan for voluntary large-scale military training of Poland’s adult population given Russia’s continuing aggression. He said the government plans to expand existing training programmes as soon as possible, so that everyone who wants to take part can do so in 2026, and expanding the target to be able to train 100,000 people in 2027.
Those taking part in the month-long training get a one-off salary of 6,000 Polish złoty (£1,200) – with the scheme open to all adults between 18 and 60 years old.
Further details of the draft law implementing these plan are expected “by the end of March,” he said.