Russia weighs Ukraine ceasefire plan
MOSCOW—The Kremlin said on Wednesday it would review details from Washington about a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine before responding, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hoped a deal would be struck within days.
As Moscow considered the plan, President Vladimir Putin, dressed in military fatigues, made a surprise visit to Russia’s Kursk region for the first time since Ukrainian troops captured part of it last year.
With Putin’s presence highlighting recent Russian advances in Kursk, Valery Gerasimov, head of Russia’s general staff, told the Kremlin leader his troops had repelled Ukrainian forces from 86 percent of the ground they once held in Kursk.
Ukraine had hoped to use that territory as a bargaining chip in any peace talks with Moscow.
The United States on Tuesday agreed to resume weapons supplies and intelligence sharing with Ukraine after Kyiv said at talks in Saudi Arabia that it was ready to support a ceasefire proposal.
The Kremlin on Wednesday said it was carefully studying the results of that meeting and awaited details from the United States.
‘Neither side is shooting’
Rubio said the United States was hoping for a positive response, and that if the answer was “no” then it would tell Washington a lot about the Kremlin’s true intentions.
Speaking to reporters when his plane refueled in Ireland, Rubio said on Wednesday: “Here’s what we’d like the world to look like in a few days: Neither side is shooting at each other, not rockets, not missiles, not bullets, nothing … and the talking starts.”
Two people familiar with the matter said Russia has presented Washington with a list of demands for a deal to end the Ukraine war and reset relations with the United States.
The specific demands were not clear, nor whether Russia was willing to enter peace talks with Kyiv prior to their acceptance.
