Senior officials from the United States and Ukraine are meeting in Saudi Arabia for talks aimed at ending the war with Russia, which is now in its fourth year.

The talks started behind closed doors in the port city of Jeddah on Tuesday.

The two sides talked for about three hours in the morning before taking a break. 

During the talks, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, shared some images of the meeting on X, saying the talks had “started very constructively.”

“We’re working towards a just and lasting peace,” Yermak wrote in a separate post on Telegram.

As he arrived for talks in Jeddah, Yermak told reporters that Kiev is “ready to do everything to achieve peace.”

US President Donald Trump has dispatched Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz for the talks in Jeddah.

Ahead of the meeting, Rubio told reporters that Washington would be listening to Ukrainian officials about what conditions they considered necessary for peace rather than proposing measures.

“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.”

Rubio said the “only way” to prevent suffering was to talk about concessions.

Two Ukrainian officials told AP on Monday they would propose a ceasefire covering the Black Sea region, long-range missile strikes, and the release of Ukrainian prisoners held in Russia.

The talks in Jeddah come after Trump suspended all military and intelligence support to Ukraine “to ensure that it is contributing to a solution.”

Kiev is now hoping the offer of a partial ceasefire in the sky and at sea will persuade Washington to restore the military support.

Ukraine launches its largest strike against Moscow

Ahead of the talks in Jeddah, Russian officials reported that Ukraine launched its largest long-range drone bombardment of the war before dawn on Tuesday.

The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed to have intercepted at least 91 drones in the Moscow region and over 240 drones targeting other locations across the country.

In response, the Ukrainian military said its strikes were aimed at Moscow’s oil refinery, which supplies more than a third of the fuel for the capital, as well as an oil production facility in the Orel region.

Moscow’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, described the assault as the largest against the city since the war began.

Russian authorities reported that at least three people were killed and 18 others injured in the broader Moscow region. Additionally, four international airports temporarily suspended operations, and railway tracks near Domodedovo Airport were damaged.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov confirmed that President Vladimir V. Putin was briefed on the situation. Peskov said while Russian air defenses were performing effectively, authorities must “remain on guard” as further attacks were expected.