By James Matthews, US correspondent
It looks like progress and it sounds like progress. How much it is actual progress will be a matter for the Russians.
Moscow will decide if this step forward amounts to two steps back.
The Americans and Ukrainians did the easy bit in Saudi Arabia.
This was a diplomatic healing between both parties, a reset on relations that restores a military alliance.
Clearly, Ukraine will welcome the US lifting its pause on intelligence-sharing and weapons supply.
It will strengthen the ties between Washington and Kyiv, even if trust remains undermined.
There is deep suspicion in Kyiv surrounding the motivations of Donald Trump and his relationship with Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the ceasefire proposal a positive step – he’s content as far as it goes, even if he’ll have questions around the context.
Ukraine was second behind Russia on the guest list for talks with the Americans and, while Trump has courted Putin, he’s cold-shouldered Zelenskyy.
Discussions between Trump and Putin will surely have given the US president a guide on how the Russians will respond to offers made.
Would Trump have proposed a ceasefire without an assurance that Putin would accept?
Unlikely, given everything Moscow has to gain.
The future floated for Ukraine by the Trump administration doesn’t include NATO membership, doesn’t reflect a desire to roll back Russian territorial gains and doesn’t rule out lifting sanctions against Moscow.
For Ukraine, there are difficult questions about what comes after the guns go silent.
A ceasefire in the current conditions isn’t the starting point that Zelenskyy would have chosen but, realistically, it’s the only starting point he’s got.