Ukraine, US start partial truce talks in Jeddah

Ukraine said talks with the United States in Saudi Arabia began "very constructively" today, 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 the meeting at a luxury hotel.
Meanwhile, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen today called for a "surge" in European defence spending, as the 27-nation bloc faces an aggressive Russia and faltering US support.
Addressing lawmakers in Strasbourg, von der Leyen said Europe's security order was "being shaken," suggesting the continent could no longer rely on "America's full protection".
"The time of illusions is now over. Europe is called to take greater charge of its own defence," the European Commission president told the EU's parliament.
"We need a surge in European defence. And we need it now."
In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron was set to address a meeting of military chiefs from 30 European and Nato countries willing to contribute to security guarantees for Ukraine after any negotiated truce with Russia.
Macron, who has sought to rally a European response to Washington's shock policy shift in US-Russia relations, has said today's meeting will be held in coordination with Nato military command.
After today's talks, defence ministers from Europe's five main military powers -- France, Britain, Germany, Italy and Poland -- are to meet in the French capital tomorrow. EU and Nato representatives and the Ukrainian defence minister will also take part.
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 today'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.
Rubio said the United States had not cut off intelligence for defensive operations.
Asked whether the overnight drone attack could derail peace talks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said: "There are no (peace) negotiations yet, so there is nothing to disrupt here."
For its part, Russia has escalated strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure and said it had retaken 12 settlements in its Kursk region that Ukraine had captured in a bid for bargaining leverage.
In the infamous White House meeting last month, Zelensky refused to bite his tongue in the face of criticism from Vice President JD Vance, with the Ukrainian leader questioning why his country should trust promises from Russia.
He has since written a repentant letter to Trump.
Faced with Washington's pressure, Ukraine will lay out its support for a limited ceasefire in the sky and at sea, a Ukrainian official told AFP on Monday.
Rubio signalled that the Trump administration would likely be pleased by such a proposal.
Rubio said he would bring ideas back to Russia.
Rubio and Waltz met last month with counterparts from Russia, also in Saudi Arabia, ending a freeze in high-level contacts imposed by former president Joe Biden after Russia defied Western warnings and launched its invasion.
Trump last week also threatened further sanctions against Russia to force it to the table as it carried out strikes on Ukraine.
But Trump's abrupt shift in US policy -- including suggesting Ukraine was to blame for the war, and recently siding with Russia in recent votes at the UN -- has stunned many allies.
Rubio said Monday that the United States would also object to "antagonistic" language on Russia at an upcoming gathering of Group of Seven foreign ministers.