White smoke in the United States-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia with the proposal for a 30-day ceasefire being put on the table by Washington and accepted by Kiev, in exchange for the immediate lifting of the suspension of information exchange and the resumption of security assistance to Ukraine. However, as the head of American diplomacy, Marco Rubio, characteristically emphasized, "the ball is now in Russia's court."
It remains unknown how Moscow will respond, with the Kremlin indicating that it will provide a relevant update after first being informed by the American side. According to what was reported yesterday, Tuesday, by the British network BBC, it is not ruled out that the United States' special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will visit the Russian capital within the week.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in the wake of the talks, stressed that Ukraine is ready to take the step for peace. Thanking his American counterpart, Donald Trump, for the "constructive discussion of the two delegations" in Jeddah, he stated that "Russia must show its willingness to stop the war or continue it."
At the same time, from Washington, Donald Trump said he was open to inviting the Ukrainian president to the White House again and stressed that he hoped Russian President Vladimir Putin would respond. "I think the ceasefire is very important. If we can convince Russia to do it, that would be great," he stressed.
Ukraine is currently "dancing" to the beat of the United States. It is declaring itself willing to stop fighting and ready to sign the agreement for its mineral wealth that Donald Trump so desires.
However, nothing is over yet and the next steps to the end of the tunnel are uncertain. As analysts typically emphasize, the Ukrainian side may feel relieved about the restoration of relations with Washington, but as far as the ongoing war is concerned, it has not yet escaped danger. The pressure from the United States will not stop.
The front lines could freeze as they are on the map at the moment – thus creating a de facto border line between Ukraine and Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. This is, according to experts, a possible scenario that the American side had warned Ukraine about, namely that in order to stop the war, Kiev would have to cede territory to Russia.
At the same time, Moscow has not yet opened its cards and its response is difficult to predict, as yesterday, Tuesday, Ukraine's largest drone attack on Moscow was recorded and at the same time, the Russian armed forces made significant new advances in the western Kursk region.
Kremlin political analysts noted that a possible negative response from Moscow would show that the Russian side does not want peace and would put US-Russian relations to the test. At the same time, they emphasized that a positive Russian response would certainly be accompanied by a list of demands from the Kremlin. And for the American leadership, the ball may now be in Russia's court, but what remains to be seen is whether Washington is, in the end, able to influence Moscow.
Source: skai.gr
