Pressure is now on Putin as Ukraine agrees to Trump’s ceasefire proposal - Audio Posts

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Ukraine has agreed to a United States proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia, representing a potentially significant breakthrough in US-led diplomatic efforts to end the largest European conflict since World War II. The agreement on a potential ceasefire came following eight hours of negotiations between high-level US and Ukrainian delegations in Saudi Arabia.

In a joint statement issued following the talks in Jeddah, Ukraine expressed its readiness to accept the United States proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation. The United States will now communicate to the Kremlin that Russia’s readiness to accept the ceasefire proposal is the key to achieving peace. “We’ll take this offer to the Russians. We hope the Russians will reciprocate,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented.

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There was more positive news for Ukraine from Saudi Arabia, with the US delegation announcing the immediate lifting of a freeze on military assistance and intelligence sharing. This decision to renew US support reflects a thaw in bilateral ties following weeks of increased tension including a disastrous Oval Office meeting in late February that saw US President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance clash publicly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Trump responded to his White House confrontation with Zelenskyy by claiming that the Ukrainian leader was “not ready for peace.” The change in tone from US officials following today’s meeting was palpable. “The Ukrainian delegation today made something very clear, that they share President Trump’s vision for peace, they share his determination to end the fighting, to end the killing, to end the tragic meat grinder of people,” commented White House national security adviser Michael Waltz.

With Ukraine now clearly backing the US peace initiative, the world will be watching closely to see Russia’s reaction. Trump has stated that he may speak directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin later this week. If Putin decides not to support the push for a temporary ceasefire, it will dramatically alter the optics of the war and position Russia as the main obstacle to peace.

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Developments in the coming few days will reveal much about Trump’s personal relationship with Putin. The US leader has long claimed to be on good terms with the Russian dictator and has talked up the progress being made during initial negotiations with the Kremlin over a potential peace deal to end the war in Ukraine. If his efforts are now rebuffed, Trump will face mounting pressure to adopt a far tougher stance toward Moscow.

This places Putin in something of a quandary. Despite suffering heavy battlefield losses, his armies continue to advance slowly but steadily in Ukraine. Meanwhile, dramatic recent changes in US foreign policy have increased his sense of confidence that the international coalition supporting the Ukrainian war effort is finally fracturing. Putin will therefore be understandably reluctant to embrace US calls for an immediate ceasefire. At the same time, he knows that if he rejects Trump’s peace overtures, this will likely derail the broad reset in US-Russian relations that the new United States administration has been signaling since January.

The US has been pushing for a ceasefire as the first step toward comprehensive negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to reach a peace agreement. While a peace deal is still a long way off, this initial step from the Ukrainian side could create much-needed momentum. If Russia chooses not to reciprocate, calls will grow for the US and Europe to strengthen Ukraine’s position militarily while increasing sanctions pressure on Russia.

Peter Dickinson is editor of the Atlantic Council’s UkraineAlert service.