Ukraine and Russia agree to 60-day humanitarian ceasefire brokered through Saudi Arabia

RIYADH — Ukraine and Russia signed a 60-day humanitarian ceasefire on Tuesday, ending months of shuttle diplomacy led by Saudi Arabia and marking the longest agreed pause in fighting since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The agreement, formalized at the Diriyah Palace in Riyadh after a third round of indirect talks that began April 14, was witnessed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has hosted three rounds of indirect talks since January. Under the terms of the 14-point framework, both militaries will hold their current positions along the 1,200-kilometer front line, halt long-range strikes on energy infrastructure beyond 50 kilometers from the line of contact, and open four humanitarian corridors — through Zaporizhzhia, Kupiansk, Vovchansk, and the southern Kherson axis — to allow civilian evacuations and aid deliveries coordinated by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Compliance will be verified under a joint UN-OSCE monitoring mandate, with Turkish and Swiss observers deployed to six checkpoints.

"This is not peace, but it is the first quiet our people will know in more than four years," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said at a press conference at the Foreign Ministry in Kyiv on Tuesday afternoon. "Every hour without a missile is an hour we use to bring our children home." Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak confirmed that President Volodymyr Zelensky communicated Kyiv's acceptance to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a 40-minute phone call Monday evening.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking alongside presidential aide and lead negotiator Yuri Ushakov in Riyadh, confirmed Moscow's commitment to the framework and said additional monitoring would be conducted jointly by Saudi and Turkish military observers. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, in remarks carried by state news agency TASS, called the deal "a serious step achieved through the constructive efforts of our Saudi partners." Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan called the agreement "a foundation, not a finish line," and announced that a follow-on negotiating track on territorial and security questions would begin in Jeddah on May 27.

The ceasefire takes effect at 00:00 Kyiv time on Friday. A prisoner exchange involving 480 service members on each side is scheduled for April 27, alongside the return of 65 Ukrainian children identified by Qatari mediators as a first tranche under the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, which lists 19,546 deported minors.

Markets responded immediately. Brent crude fell 3.8 percent to $74.20 a barrel in early London trading, while the Moscow Exchange's MOEX index rose 6.1 percent. European Council President António Costa, speaking in Brussels, welcomed the agreement and said the EU would accelerate disbursement of a €6.5 billion tranche from the Ukraine Facility, releasing the funds by May 6 to support reconstruction and humanitarian access in newly accessible areas. Germany confirmed it would proceed with the delivery of 12 IRIS-T air defense systems and 30,000 155mm artillery rounds following an emergency call between Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Zelensky on Tuesday night, framed as a hedge to underwrite enforcement.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who traveled to Riyadh last week, credited Saudi mediation as "indispensable" in a statement from Washington and said the United States would back enforcement mechanisms and sustain military aid flows authorized under the April supplemental.