Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday hailed a meeting between the U.S. and Ukraine this week aimed at ending Russia‘s invasion and said a proposed ceasefire could be used to draft a broader peace deal.
The United States said on Tuesday it was resuming military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine after U.S. and Ukrainian officials agreed in Saudi Arabia on a 30-day ceasefire with Russia.
“I am very serious (about a ceasefire) and for me it is important to end the war,” Zelenskyy said during a briefing in Kyiv, where he described the resumption of U.S. aid and intelligence as very positive.
“We are ready for a ceasefire for 30 days as proposed by the American side.”
Zelenskyy added that the Jeddah meeting had helped “de-escalate” tensions between the U.S. and Ukraine after a White House clash between him and President Donald Trump last month.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after the talks in Jeddah that the U.S. would now take the offer to Russia, and that the ball was in Moscow’s court.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday it was awaiting details from Washington on the 30-day ceasefire proposal.
Trump-Putin Meeting
A potential meeting between United States President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin “will largely depend on progress toward ending the war in Ukraine,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday.
Rubio said he discussed such a meeting when he met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, telling Lavrov and Russian officials: “There isn’t going to be a meeting until we know what the meeting is going to be about.”
“I think when that meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin happens will largely depend on whether we can make any progress on ending the war in Ukraine,” Rubio told journalist Catherine Herridge in an interview broadcast on X.
(With inputs from Reuters)
