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From CBS News: The U.S. and Ukraine said Kyiv would accept a 30-day ceasefire with Russia after talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, with Washington pledging to immediately lift a freeze on intelligence sharing and military aid to Ukraine.
“Ukraine expressed readiness to accept the U.S. proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and which is subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation,” the U.S. and Ukraine said in a joint statement released by the State Department. “The United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace.”
The agreement came after more than eight hours of negotiations between Ukrainian officials and a U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the Saudi city of Jeddah.
The statement said the U.S. “will immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine.” Both were frozen in the wake of an explosive meeting between Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Trump at the White House on Feb. 28.
It still remains to be seen whether Russia will accept the terms of the ceasefire agreement that has been worked out with Ukraine.
Steve Witkoff, who serves as the Middle East envoy for the United States, will be traveling to Russia in the near future.
In a press conference Tuesday alongside National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Rubio said, “We’ll take this offer now to the Russians. And we hope that they’ll say yes, that they’ll say yes to peace.”
“The president’s objective here is, number one, above everything else, he wants the war to end, and I think today Ukraine has taken a concrete step in that regard. We hope the Russians will reciprocate,” Rubio added.
Zelenskyy announced in a Facebook post:
Our delegation has just reported on the meeting with the American team in Saudi Arabia. Our, Ukraine’s proposal for this meeting with the Americans consisted of three points: silence in the skies – meaning no missiles, bombs, or long-range drones – and silence at sea; and real measures to establish confidence in this whole situation, in which diplomacy is ongoing, which means, primarily, the release of prisoners.
The American side understands our arguments and accepts our proposals, I would like to thank President Trump for the constructive nature of the dialogue between our teams. And today, during the discussion, there was a proposal specifically from the American side to immediately take the first step beyond that and try to establish a complete ceasefire for 30 days, not only with regard to missiles, drones and bombs, not only in the Black Sea, but also along the entire frontline.
Ukraine accepts this proposal, we consider it positive, we are ready to take this step. The United States of America needs to convince Russia to do so. That is, we agree, and if the Russians agree, the silence will take effect at that very moment. An important element in today’s discussions is America’s readiness to restore defense assistance to Ukraine and intelligence support. Ukraine is ready for peace.
Russia must also show whether it is ready to end the war – or continue it. The time has come for the whole truth. I thank everyone who helps Ukraine.
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