Ukraine ready to accept US-brokered ceasefire for resumption of military aid

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Ukraine has said it is ready to accept a US proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire in its war with Russia, prompting Washington to agree to resume military assistance to Kyiv.

The proposed ceasefire, which Russia has yet to agree to, was announced in a joint statement that capped several hours of talks between US and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia.

Washington said it would immediately restore deliveries of weapons and ammunition and end its suspension of intelligence-sharing, which Kyiv feared would seriously hamper its ability to detect and hit targets beyond the battlefield.

US President Donald Trump said he hoped Russia would agree to the ceasefire. “Ukraine has agreed to it, and hopefully Russia will agree to it,” Trump told reporters outside the White House.

Read the latest on today’s talks in Jeddah.

Here’s what else I’m watching today:

• US tariffs on steel and aluminium: Tariffs of 25 per cent will go into effect on steel and aluminium imports to the US, just hours after Trump backed down from plans to double tariffs on Canadian steel and metal imports. More on the U-turn.

• Vietnam AI-Semiconductor conference: Attendees are expected to include executives from Google DeepMind, IBM, Intel, TSMC, Samsung, MediaTek, Tokyo Electron, Panasonic, Qorvo and Marvell.

• Opec data: The group’s monthly oil market report is due today.

• G7 foreign ministers meeting: Officials are set to meet in the Charlevoix region of Quebec.

Five more top stories

1. Nissan pushed out chief executive Makoto Uchida after growing calls for his resignation in the wake of deteriorating financial performance and the collapse of merger talks with rival Honda. The Japanese carmaker’s chief planning officer Ivan Espinosa will take over as chief executive in April. Here’s what the company said about the change at the top.

2. Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has been arrested under an International Criminal Court warrant over a drug crackdown that resulted in thousands of deaths in the south-east Asian country. The former president’s daughter Sara Duterte, who is the current Philippine vice-president, said her father was being “forcibly taken to The Hague”. Read the full story.

3. Elon Musk has reached an agreement to introduce Starlink to India in a tie-up with local telecoms tycoon Sunil Mittal. The partnership between Musk’s SpaceX and Mittal’s Bharti Airtel pitches the duo against Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio as they bring satellite internet services to the world’s most populous nation.

4. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase will re-enter India after securing a key regulatory nod. It’s been given permission to register with India’s Financial Intelligence Unit, an anti-money laundering watchdog, and planned to start offering retail services later this year. The move is a sign of a thaw in the country’s hostility to digital coins following US President Donald Trump’s strong support for the assets.

5. Wall Street stocks sank on Tuesday, briefly pulling the S&P 500 into a so-called correction, as Trump’s latest trade broadside against Canada fanned investor fears over the economic fallout from his protectionist agenda. Read our full recap of yesterday’s market moves here.

Today’s big read

The UK’s two leading digital banks, Revolut and Monzo, are hoping to crack the US market as fintechs are once again attracting investment following a funding drought. But the push across the Atlantic is no easy feat. Here’s why.

We’re also reading and listening to . . . 

• ‘Inference’ computing: Nvidia’s rivals are focusing their efforts on how artificial intelligence is deployed to disrupt the world’s most valuable chipmaker.

• 🎧 Unhedged: Investors have long been wary of China, piling into US markets, no matter what the climate. But is that changing? Robert Armstrong and Aiden Reiter explore this question on the Unhedged podcast. For more markets commentary, Premium subscribers can sign up for our Unhedged newsletter here. Or upgrade your subscription.

• Market tumult: Investors fear Donald Trump’s tolerance for a steep stock sell-off is far higher than it was in his first term.

Chart of the day

US President Donald Trump is pushing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do what India for decades could not or would not do: lower the high tariff walls that have surrounded its economy since independence. But trade experts say the talks promise to be fraught and politically sensitive in New Delhi, especially when it comes to agriculture. 

Take a break from the news . . . 

The likes of Jack Dorsey, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gwyneth Paltrow and Dave Asprey seek self-optimisation with infrared longevity therapies — compact, next-generation saunas where the hot box potency comes from a spectrum of red and infrared light. With price tags ranging from £2,000 to £20,000, HTSI explored some of the hottest tech.