Russia’s military said Tuesday that its air defenses had shot down 337 Ukrainian drones overnight across 10 Russian regions, in what appears to have been the biggest Ukrainian drone attack on Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion more than three years ago. The attack came as senior Ukrainian officials met in Saudi Arabia with a U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio about how to reach an agreement to end the war. 

The talks reflect a new diplomatic push after an unprecedented argument erupted during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Feb. 28 visit to the White House. In the immediate wake of that falling out, President Trump cut off all U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, leaving the country at a disadvantage as it fights to repel Russia’s increasing land grab.

Ukraine’s air force said, meanwhile, that it had shot down a ballistic Iskander-M missile and 79 of 126 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack, according to the Reuters news agency. Thirty-five more drones didn’t reach targets, probably as a result of electronic warfare countermeasures, the air force said. It didn’t spell out what happened to the other 12 drones.

Most of the Ukrainian drones, 126, were shot down over the Kursk region just across the border from Ukraine, parts of which Kyiv’s forces control, and 91 were shot down over the Moscow region, according to a statement by Russia’s Defense Ministry. Other regions listed in the statement included Belgorod, Bryansk and Voronezh on the border with Ukraine and those deeper inside Russia, such as Kaluga, Lipetsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Oryol and Ryazan.

Commuters went to work as usual in central Moscow and there were no signs of panic in the city, Reuters reported, adding that Moscow is one of the biggest metropolitan areas in Europe with a population of at least 21 million when the region around it is included.

The governor of the Moscow region surrounding the capital, Andrei Vorobyov, said one person was killed and nine more wounded as a result of the attack, which also damaged several residential buildings and a number of cars.

Flights were restricted in and out of six airports, including Domodedovo, Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky just outside Moscow and airports in the Yaroslavl and Nizhny Novgorod regions. Later, Sheremetyevo Airport resumed flights, Reuters cites aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia as saying.

U.S.-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia

A senior Ukrainian official said his country’s message to Rubio and the American team in Jeddah on Tuesday would be that Kyiv is ready to forge a peace deal with Russia, and that while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy still wants Western security guarantees as part of a ceasefire to deter any future Russian aggression, their focus for the time being was “how to start this process.”

Neither the U.S. nor Ukrainian officials offered any insight as they gathered along either side of a U-shaped table in the Saudi capital, with officials from the host nation sitting between them at the end. 

Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak told reporters before he sat down opposite Rubio and U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz that his delegation’s central message was, “Ukrainians want a peace,” and that his country was “ready to go” to work toward that goal.

The Ukrainian said the Zelenskyy administration was “ready to do everything to achieve the peace.”

Asked about security guarantees for Ukraine, which Kyiv and European officials have said for months are vital to ensuring any ceasefire remains durable, Yermak said they were, “very important, because we want that never, this aggression, [is] never repeated in the future again. Of course, it’s very important. But now we think it’s necessary to discuss [with] the most importance how to start this process.”

Yermak said Ukraine was “very open,” adding that his team was hopeful of a “very constructive, deep” conversation “with our American partners.”

Mr. Trump has been pushing Kyiv to sign a deal that would grant U.S. access to Ukraine’s significant mineral reserves, including its highly sought after rare earth elements, but the White House has not made its terms for moving forward with a serious peace effort with Russia clear to date. Mr. Trump has said he’d consider imposing further sanctions on Russia. 

Asked Tuesday what would be deemed acceptable terms for the Ukrainians and what concessions Kyiv might reject, Yermak declined to get into any details ahead of the meeting in Jeddah, saying only that he hoped to be able to share more after sitting down with Rubio and Waltz.