Following peace talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, officials for Ukraine and the United States have proposed a 30-day cease-fire and await a response from Russia. 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 Jeddah.
Representatives of the two nations said in a joint statement on Tuesday released by the State Department: “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 United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace.”
The U.S. and Ukrainian delegations said the interim, month-long cease-fire “can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and that the United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace.” The two delegations “also discussed the importance of humanitarian relief efforts as part of the peace process, particularly during the above-mentioned ceasefire, including the exchange of prisoners of war, the release of civilian detainees, and the return of forcibly transferred Ukrainian children.”
Rubio said: “Today, we made an offer that the Ukrainians have accepted, which is to enter into a cease-fire and into immediate negotiations to end this conflict in a way that’s enduring and sustainable and accounts for their interests, their security, their ability to prosper as a nation. And hopefully 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 ball is now in their court. 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 led the U.S. delegation to Saudi Arabia, supported by Witkoff and national security adviser Mike Waltz. Zelenskyy was visiting Saudi Arabia at the time of the talks, but did not participate. A senior Ukrainian official said ahead of the talks that Kyiv was ready to make a peace deal with Russia. Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, said his delegation’s central message was that “Ukrainians want peace,” and that Ukraine was “ready to go to work toward that goal It is very important, because we want that never, this aggression, [is] never repeated in the future again. Of course, it’s very important. But now we think it’s necessary to discuss, [with] the most importance, how to start this process.”
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