- The United States resumes information sharing, security assistance for Kyiv.
- Rubio says he will present an offer to Moscow, a ball in the Russian court.
- Ukraine, the United States agree to conclude the mineral agreement as soon as possible.
The United States agreed on Tuesday to resume military aid and intelligence with Ukraine after discussions where kyiv said that it would accept an American proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in its conflict with Russia, countries said in a joint statement.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States would now provide the offer in Russia and that the ball is in the Moscow courtyard.
“We hope that the Russians will respond” yes “as quickly as possible, so that we can reach the second phase of this, which is real negotiations,” Rubio told journalists, referring to US President Donald Trump, after more than eight hours of talks in Djeddah, in Saudi Arabia.
The Kremlin launched a large -scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago, and Russia, which makes progress, now holds about a fifth of the territory of Ukraine, including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.
Rubio said Washington wanted a complete agreement with Russia and Ukraine “as soon as possible”.
“Every day that passes, this war continues, people die, people are bombed, people are injured on both sides of this conflict,” he said.
While the United States and Ukraine were waiting for Russia’s response on the agreement, Moscow launched an air attack at night against kyiv, in what could be a response to Ukraine drones attack last night.
Wednesday, the mayor of kyiv, Vitali Klitschk, confirmed the attack on Wednesday, saying that air defense forces are committed to repairing strikes.
How Moscow would react further was far from certain.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was open to discussing a peace agreement, but he and his diplomats have repeatedly declared that they were against a cease-fire and that an agreement is looking for “long-term security” of Russia. Putin excluded territorial concessions and said that Ukraine had to fully withdraw from four claimed Ukrainian regions and partially controlled by Russia.
On Tuesday, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs only said that it had not excluded contacts with American representatives.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who was in Saudi Arabia but did not participate in talks, said that the ceasefire was a “positive proposal”, which covers the front line of the conflict, and not only fights by air and the sea.
Will Russia agree?
The Ukrainian chief said that the ceasefire would take effect as soon as Russia agrees.
“When the agreements come into force, during these 30 days of” silence “, we will have time to prepare ourselves with our partners in terms of working documents all aspects for reliable peace and long -term security,” said Zelensky.
Rubio said the plan would be delivered to the Russians by several channels. Trump’s national security advisor Mike Waltz was to meet his Russian counterpart in the coming days and Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, plans to visit Moscow this week to meet Putin.
Trump said on Tuesday that he hoped for a quick ceasefire and thought he would speak to Putin this week. “I hope it will be in the coming days,” he told journalists during a White House event to promote the Tesla car company of his near Elon Musk advisor.
The US-Ukraine agreement was a lively turnaround of an acrimonious meeting of the White House on February 28 between the new Republican President, which has long been skeptical of Ukrainian aid and Zelensky.
In the joint declaration on Tuesday, the two countries declared having accepted to conclude as soon as possible a complete agreement to develop critical mineral resources of Ukraine, which were underway and were thrown into the limbo by this meeting.
After this meeting, the United States cut the sharing of information and arms expeditions to Ukraine, stressing Trump’s desire to put pressure on an American ally when he pivots a more conciliatory approach to Moscow.
Trump said on Tuesday that he would invite Zelensky to the White House.
Ukrainian officials said late Tuesday that US military assistance and intelligence had resumed.
European partners
A higher assistant in Zelensky said that Ukraine security guarantee options were discussed with US officials. Safety guarantees were one of kyiv’s key objectives, and some European countries have expressed their willingness to explore the sending of peacekeepers.
In the joint declaration, Ukraine has reiterated that European partners should be involved in the peace process. NATO secretary general, Mark Rutte, will be in the White House on Thursday.
“It seems that the Americans and the Ukrainians have taken an important stage towards peace. And Europe is ready to help reach a just and lasting peace,” said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on X.
Waltz said the initial resumption of military aid for Ukraine would involve American stock equipment approved by former American president Joe Biden and stopped by Trump.
While diplomacy takes place, the battlefield posts of Ukraine underwent strong pressure, especially in the Russian Kursk region where the forces of Moscow launched a push to eliminate the troops of Kyiv, which were trying to hold a plot of land as money of negotiation.
Ukraine Overnight launched its greatest drone attack on Moscow and in the surrounding region, showing that kyiv can also win major blows after a constant flow of missile and Russian drones, one of whom killed 14 people on Saturday.
The attack, in which 337 drones were slaughtered on Russia, killed at least three employees with a meat warehouse and caused a short closure in the four airports in Moscow.
