US officials are headed to Russia to secure the ceasefire deal after Ukraine agreed with the terms during a meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The American negotiators want Russia to agree to an unconditional halt to hostilities.
The White House said that US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, a mediator in the Gaza and Ukraine wars, would be in Moscow this week. As per AFP, Russian news agencies reported that the CIA chief and Russia’s SVR head recently held their first phone call in years.
According to AFP, the Kremlin said it was awaiting details of a US-Ukrainian proposal but did not indicate its readiness to stop fighting that has left thousands dead in the past three years.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz attended the meeting from the Washington side during the meeting with Ukraine. Following this, Rubio said that the onus is now on Russia to take steps to end the war. “We hope that they’ll say yes, that they’ll say yes to peace. The ball is now in their court,” reported CNN.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said that his country is ready to accept the terms of the deal, while US said that there would be a “strong” response if Putin refuses an accord.
“People are going to Russia right now as we speak. And hopefully we can get a ceasefire from Russia,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with Ireland’s prime minister Micheal Martin, according to an AFP report.
Russia Could Face Financial Repurcussions
On Wednesday, Trump did not confirm if he would speak with Putin but noted receiving “positive messages” from Moscow, expressing hope for a ceasefire. Trump said that if the fighting could be halted, “I think that would be 80 percent of the way to getting this horrible bloodbath finished.”
According to a report by The Guardian, Trump warned that Russia could face financial repercussions if Moscow failed to support a 30-day ceasefire. While Trump did not directly promise to target Russia with sanctions if Russian President Vladimir Putin did not sign the deal, he said he could “do things financially that would be very bad for Russia”.
Rubio said Washington wanted Moscow’s agreement with no strings attached. “That’s what we want to know – if they’re prepared to do it unconditionally,” Rubio as per AFP.
He said that if the response is “yes”, we would make real progress and that there would be a “real chance of peace”. “If their response is ‘no’, it would be highly unfortunate, and it’ll make their intentions clear,” he added.
