Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the 30-day ceasefire agreement, signed by Kyiv in negotiations mediated by the United States in Saudi Arabia, could serve as a draft for a broader agreement. He added that now it is up to Russia to decide whether it wants to engage in the peace process.
“It is up to Russia to decide what happens next, whether it wants to continue its aggression against Ukraine or not,” Zelensky said at a press conference on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian leader praised the talks that resulted in the ceasefire proposal and emphasized the need to underline the next steps to achieve a long-term peace agreement with security guarantees for Ukraine to end the three-year war.
Zelensky urged Ukrainians to prepare for “strong informational pressure” and said, “Russia will do everything to divide Ukraine from the United States.”
Moscow has so far refused to comment on the details of the 30-day ceasefire proposal, and it is unclear whether Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a decision on the agreement.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow would wait for more detailed information from Washington, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Washington “will contact the Russians” today.
U.S. President Donald Trump also said that he would speak with Putin in the coming days to secure his commitment, while Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, also held a phone call on March 11 with CIA Director John Ratcliffe, reported the news agency Interfax.
Rubio told reporters on Wednesday, in his first comments after leaving the talks in Jeddah, that the United States hopes to receive a positive response from Russia regarding the ceasefire agreement and “calls on the Russians to stop all hostilities.”
Ukraine will need a strong deterrent tool to prevent future attacks, Rubio said, adding that Europeans “will need to be involved in this regard.”
He also added that further discussions will need to address the issue of lifting European Union sanctions on the Russian economy.
“I would imagine that in any negotiation, if we get there with the Russians, they will raise the issue of these European sanctions that have been imposed on them,” Rubio said.
Moscow has so far opposed a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated Moscow’s stance during an interview with three right-wing American bloggers, saying that it will not accept the presence of NATO forces in Ukraine under any circumstances.
Rubio also warned that he “would not describe the minerals agreement as a security guarantee,” referring to a proposed agreement between the U.S. and Kyiv regarding Ukraine’s mineral resources, which has not been signed following a clash in the White House between Trump and Zelensky, according to REL.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Russia and Ukraine exchanged airstrikes, just hours after Kyiv accepted the ceasefire proposal.
Two Russian rocket attacks hit the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Wednesday, killing one person, while another attack killed four crew members of a cargo ship near the port city of Odesa.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said its air defense systems shot down six drones on Wednesday, one over the Russian-annexed Crimea and five over the Black Sea.
The Krymsky Veter Telegram channel reported strong explosions and alarm sirens in Crimea’s cities and near Russian military facilities.
