The United States said it has resumed military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine and now awaits Russia’s response to a 30-day ceasefire.
This was a fall-out of a meeting between US and Ukrainian officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Ukraine agreed to the ceasefire proposal and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. would now take the offer to Russia, and the ball is in Moscow’s court.
“Our hope is that the Russians will answer ‘yes’ as quickly as possible, so we can get to the second phase of this, which is real negotiations,” Rubio told reporters, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Kremlin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago, and Russia, which has been making advances, now holds around a fifth of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.
Rubio said Washington wanted a full agreement with both Russia and Ukraine “as soon as possible.”
“Every day that goes by, this war continues, people die, people are bombed, people are hurt on both sides of this conflict,” he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is open to discussing a peace deal, but he and his diplomats have repeatedly stated they are against a ceasefire and would seek a deal that safeguards Russia’s long-term security.
Putin told his Security Council on Jan. 20 that there “should not be a short truce, not some kind of respite for regrouping forces and rearmament with the aim of subsequently continuing the conflict, but a long-term peace.”
He has also ruled out territorial concessions and said Ukraine must withdraw fully from four Ukrainian regions claimed and partly controlled by Russia.
“Any agreements – with all the understanding of the need for compromise – on our terms, not on American,” an influential Russian lawmaker said on Wednesday.
The Russian foreign ministry said after the U.S.-Ukraine talks on Tuesday only that it did not rule out contacts with U.S. representatives.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was in Saudi Arabia but did not participate in the talks, said the ceasefire was a “positive proposal,” that covers the frontline in the conflict, not just fighting by air and sea. Agency reports
