A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
After 9 hours of talks in Saudi Arabia, Ukrainian and American delegations announced an agreement on a 30-day ceasefire last night.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
This comes less than two weeks after a string of harsh words by President Trump directed at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy culminated in an Oval Office blowup between the two and the impression that the new administration was taking Russia's side. Now, though, the pressure is on Russia to accept the American-Ukrainian deal.
MARTÍNEZ: We go now to NPR's Eleanor Beardsley, who is in Kyiv. So, Eleanor, 30 days. What does that buy Ukraine?
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: Well, A, that buys them peace, space and calm to begin real talks about a long-term peace. It would include the cessation of all shooting, bombs, missiles, drones on the Black Sea, the frontline and in Ukraine cities, of course. And the Trump administration announced it is resuming the sharing of intelligence and delivery of military supplies, which it had temporarily paused. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the ball is now in Russia's court.
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MARCO RUBIO: Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking. And now it will be up to them to say yes or no. I hope they're going to say yes. And if they do, then I think we made great progress. If they say no, then we'll, unfortunately, know what the impediment is to peace here.
BEARDSLEY: So that's an incredible statement, A, less than two weeks after the Trump administration seemed to blame Ukraine for not wanting peace.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. How are Ukrainians reacting to this?
BEARDSLEY: Well, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took to social media immediately to herald the agreement. Here he is speaking.
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PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: (Non-English language spoken).
BEARDSLEY: He said, "The American side understands our arguments, accepts our proposals, and I want to thank President Trump for the constructive conversation between our teams."
So, again, a complete turnaround from Zelenskyy from that disastrous Oval Office meeting.
I arrived in Kyiv last night, just as the news of the deal and the renewed intel-sharing was breaking, and I spoke to 35-year-old Dima Suhak. Here he is.
DIMA SUHAK: I think that's great. We need this information, for sure.
BEARDSLEY: And how did you feel when it was stopped?
SUHAK: I feel disgusted.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Less safe.
BEARDSLEY: I don't know if you heard his friend, but she said they felt less safe because satellite intelligence not only helped on the battlefield, but it helped Ukraine defend its cities by giving advanced warning of high-speed Russian missiles. And having lay in bed last night on my first night in Kyiv to air raid sirens and then the explosions of drones being shot down over the city, I can tell you, it's nerve-racking.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Now, that meeting in Saudi Arabia was between Ukraine and the U.S. Now what?
BEARDSLEY: Well, now the U.S. delegation is set to meet with the Russians. There's been no official reaction from Moscow yet. I spoke with Samuel Charap, who is a Russia specialist at the think tank the RAND Corporation. And he says, surprisingly, there is common ground between the Russians and Ukrainians.
SAMUEL CHARAP: What Russia, interestingly, has in common with the Ukrainian position, again, is that they, too, want to ensure that this isn't a temporary pause. That whatever agreement they reach actually ends the war in a way that they're not facing a renewed, you know, Ukrainian attempt to retake Ukraine's territory in the future.
BEARDSLEY: He says no one has won this war, and both sides will have to compromise.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's Eleanor Beardsley in Kyiv. Eleanor, thank you.
BEARDSLEY: You're welcome, A.
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