US : Ukraine Ready To Move Forward On Truce Demand

The Trump administration believes Ukraine’s leadership is “ready to move forward” with the US’s demand for a ceasefire process with Russia, according to a senior US state department official.

The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz are due to arrive in Saudi Arabia for Tuesday’s talks with their Ukrainian counterparts.

US President Donald Trump has stepped up pressure on his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to accept his demands for a quick ceasefire with Moscow – but without any immediate pledge of a US security guarantee.

Ten days ago the two publicly clashed at the White House, with Trump claiming Zelensky was not ready to end the fighting.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.
The fact that they’re coming here at senior levels is a good indication to us that they want to sit down and they’re ready to move forward,” said the state department official, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the talks with Ukraine in Jeddah.

While Zelensky is also due in the Gulf kingdom to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the former is not expected to play any formal role in the talks with the Americans.

The Ukrainian team will be represented by Zelensky’s head of office Andriy Yermak, the country’s national security adviser as well as foreign and defence ministers.

Zelensky wrote on social media on Monday that Ukraine “has been seeking peace since the very first second of the war, and we have always said that the only reason that the war is continuing is because of Russia”.

A short while later, during a daily briefing, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that it was important to determine whether Ukraine really wanted peace or not. Zelensky has on numerous occasions been accused by US officials of not wanting peace.

BBC