Update(1745ET): Coming out of the Jeddah talks with the Ukrainian delegation, which lasted over eight hours, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has issued a statement hailing that Kiev has agreed to enter negotiations with Russia to end the war.
“Today, we’ve made an offer that the Ukrainians have accepted, which is to enter into a ceasefire and into immediate negotiations to end this conflict in a way that’s enduring and sustainable,” Rubio stated.
The 30-Day ceasefire aspect which was announced earlier appears designed to jump-start direct talks – with the intent that the guns would go silent to allow for talks to begin in earnest. It appears akin to a ‘freeze’ of the front lines of the conflict (something which Putin is likely to reject, seeing in in a possible ploy for Ukraine to rearm and regroup).
Rubio explained before reporters:
The offer is to stop the shooting. The goal here is the only way out – to end this war is to negotiate out of it. There’s no military solution to this war. The solution to this war and the way to end it and to achieve the President’s objective of peace is to negotiate.
But before you can negotiate you have to stop shooting at each other, and that’s what the President has wanted to see, and that’s what – that’s the commitment we got today from the Ukrainian side, their willingness to do that. Obviously, now that will be delivered to the Russians.
Rubio says if Russia does not accept the ceasefire, “we’ll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here.” So while Russia is making gains, they will have to accept terms dictated by the US/Ukraine — while US arms resume flowing — or else they become the “impediment” pic.twitter.com/LQCYXme7Sy
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) March 11, 2025
On communicating the plan to Russia, Rubio said “It’ll be delivered to them directly through multiple channels, meaning not only will they obviously see it – we’ve – it’ll be communicated to them through our diplomatic channels, through conversations, and other methods. But they’ll obviously be well aware.”
“And our hope is that the Russians will say yes, that they will also agree, so the shooting will stop, the killing will stop, the dying will stop, and the talks can begin about how to end this war permanently in a way that’s acceptable and enduring for both sides,” the US top diplomat added.
* * *
An apparent breakthrough in Jedda talks between the US and Ukraine, as the United States has announced it “will immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine.”
The Zelensky government has also “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 statement said.
“The United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace,” it added. This comes after a reported over eight hour-long meeting between the US and Ukrainian delegations in the Saudi port city on Tuesday. No doubt, the Ukrainians came hat in hand, ready to please Trump after relations had fallen off a cliff with the Zelensky Oval Office confrontation earlier this month.
Shortly before the announced US-Ukraine agreement for a 30-day ceasefire, a TASS headline said that the Kremlin has no information on any details coming out of the Jeddah meeting.
But will Putin agree? There’s as yet little incentive for him to enact a temporary ceasefire, given as Trump recently admitted… he has all the cards (and Zelensky doesn’t).
By all accounts the Russians are fast taking back territory in Kursk and advancing along front lines in the Donbas. Likely Russia fears that Kiev could simply use this ceasefire as an opportunity to rearm, rest, resupply and regroup – especially given Washington just said the US arms and intel pipeline is back on.
Moscow is likely to see this is simply a matter between Washington and Kiev, and it appears to be a version of Zelensky’s ‘partial ceasefire’ which demands a halt to all air assaults. Or in essence it sounds like Zelensky just wants his satellite images turned back on.
Ukraine’s presidential office presenting this as the joint statement following the talks led by Rubio, Waltz, and Witkoff:
- “The United States will immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine.”
- “Both countries’ presidents agreed to conclude as soon as possible a comprehensive agreement for developing Ukraine’s critical mineral resources to expand Ukraine’s economy, offset the cost of American assistance, and guarantee Ukraine’s long-term prosperity and security.”
The full statement:
From Russia’s point of view, there’s nothing about turning back on the halt in weapons and intel assistance which will help anything, given also just last night Ukraine launched its biggest drone attacks in Russian territory to date, targeting the capital of Moscow.
developing…
Tyler Durden
Tue, 03/11/2025 – 17:45
