Ukraine has accepted a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire and immediate negotiations with Russia following eight hours of talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Washington would convey this offer to Russia, emphasizing that the onus is on Russia to respond favorably for peace to proceed. Amidst pressure from Trump, Ukrainian officials expressed willingness to reconcile with Washington, and the US pledged to resume halted military aid and intelligence sharing. Rubio underscored the crucial next steps towards potential negotiations, framing Russia's response as critical to the peace process.
"Today we made an offer that the Ukrainians have accepted, which is to enter into a ceasefire and into immediate negotiations," Rubio told reporters after the talks in Jeddah.
"Our hope is that the Russians will answer 'yes' as quickly as possible, so we can get to the second phase of this, which is real negotiations," Rubio told reporters.
"If they say no then we'll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here," Rubio said of Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Trump's administration has said it aims to put an end to the war in Ukraine, which has raging for a little over three years.
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