Ukraine-Russia war live: Trump invites Zelensky back to US after ceasefire deal

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that it didn’t rule out contacts with the United States representatives over next several days, state news agency RIA reported, after Donald Trump said that there would be a US meeting with Russia later Tuesday or Wednesday.

Trump said that he hoped Russia would agree to a ceasefire plan drawn up by American and Ukrainian officials and that a total ceasefire could be achieved in the three-year war in the coming days.

He said he thought he would talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin about it this week.

President Donald Trump said he hopes Russia will agree to a ceasefire plan drawn up by American and Ukrainian officials.

In remarks to reporters, Trump said: “We just agreed to it a little while ago. Hopefully, President Putin can agree to it also and we can get this show on the road.”

The two leaders clashed in an Oval Office meeting last month but Trump said he would invite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky back to the White House.

Asked whether Zelensky was invited back to the White House, Trump said: “Sure, absolutely”.

“I think it’s a big difference to the last visit in the Oval Office”, he added, flanked by Elon Musk.

“If we can get Russia to do it, that will be great; if we can’t, we keep on going on and lots of people are going to get killed.”

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday that it seemed there had been an important step towards peace, after Ukraine voiced readiness to accept a United States proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in its conflict with Russia.

“It seems like the Americans and Ukrainians have taken an important step towards peace,” Tusk wrote on X. “And Europe stands ready to help reach a just and lasting peace.”

Volodymr Zelensky has called on Russia to accept the ceasefire deal his team have agreed with the United States.

He posted on X: “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.

“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.

“The American side understands our arguments and considers our proposals. I am grateful to President Trump for the constructive conversation between our teams. During today’s talks, the US 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.

“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.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff said that an interim 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States and backed by Kyiv would now show if Russia wanted peace or not.

“Today, the key is in Russia’s hands. The whole world will see who wants peace and who does not,” he told reporters after Ukraine-US talks in Saudi Arabia

After more than eight hours of talks, the two sides issued a joint statement that said Ukraine was willing to accept the US proposal for an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire that could be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, subject to acceptance and implementation by Russia.

“The United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace,” the statement said.

“The United States will immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine,” the statement said.

The two sides also said Washington and Kyiv agreed to conclude as soon as possible a comprehensive agreement for developing Ukraine’s critical mineral resources, a deal that has been in the works for weeks and was thrown into limbo by an acrimonious White House meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Zelenskiy last week.

The Trump administration reversed course on Tuesday in an announcement that the US would resume sharing real-time intelligence with Ukraine while also unpausing shipments of military aid.

A man burned three Tesla chargers and spray painted “long live the Ukraine” in an apparent protest against the approach of US president Donald Trump and Elon Musk to war in Europe.

The man also inadvertently set his own clothes on fire, police said. He spray painted a crude reference to Mr Trump next to the pro-Ukrainian slogan on the pavement next to the charing stations near a mall in North Charleston.

No arrests have been made.

North Charleston Police spokesperson Harve Jacobs said Tuesday. The agency turned the investigation over to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Firefighters cut the power to the chargers and put out the blaze.

White House press secretary Karoline Levitt says the US-Ukraine meeting in Saudi Arabia was “positive and productive”, according to Axios.