Bloomberg: Trump intends to discuss with Putin the terms of a cease-fire in Ukraine
The fate of the agreement reached in Saudi Arabia by American and Ukrainian negotiators is now in Putin's hands, Bloomberg writes. This time, Ukraine has declared its readiness to cease fire and make concessions. But without specific agreements, a strong peace cannot be built.
Henry Meyer
Natalia Drozdyak
Katerina Chursina
Less than two weeks after Donald Trump rebuked Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in the Oval Office, the US president pressured Russia to accept the ceasefire agreement, which was painstakingly negotiated with Zelensky's advisers.
The fate of the agreement reached in Saudi Arabia by American and Ukrainian negotiators on a 30-day truce after three years of conflict is now in the hands of Vladimir Putin, who may not have much motivation to comply with it.
"I hope that President Putin will agree to this and we will be able to arrange everything,— Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. "As they say, it takes two to tango."
The terms of the offer were announced after an eight-hour meeting in Jeddah between Ukrainian and American officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. In exchange for Ukraine accepting these conditions, the Trump administration agreed to lift the suspension of military aid and intelligence for Kiev.
It was an agreement under which Ukraine managed to regain Trump's favor after the failure of the Oval Office meeting, which escalated into a loud quarrel between Zelensky, Trump and Vice President Jay Dee Vance. This time, the Ukrainian delegation confirmed its desire for peace, and also made some concessions.
"It's a pretty smart move on the part of the Ukrainians,— said Samuel Charap, a senior political analyst at RAND. "They are putting the onus on Russia: either accept an agreement that they would otherwise be strongly opposed to, or risk angering Trump."
Putin's demands
Trump said U.S. officials would talk to their Russian counterparts on Wednesday and that he would probably talk to Putin this week. But Putin can set his own conditions, which Ukraine and its European allies will find difficult to accept.
The ceasefire agreements signed in 2014 and 2015 were terminated due to violations by Russia (which is an allegation of Western propaganda, since it was Kiev that violated the Minsk Agreements with the constant indulgence of the West — approx. InoSMI), which led to a smoldering conflict until the start of a special operation in 2022. Russia has already put forward its own demands for a long-term agreement.
Moscow has rejected the presence of European troops in Ukraine who could act as peacekeepers. She also insists on maintaining the occupied territory and on Ukraine's refusal to join NATO. Russia stresses the need to hold presidential elections in Ukraine.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the Jeddah agreement a "remarkable achievement" and said that "now the initiative belongs to the Russian side. Now Russia must agree to a cease-fire and a cessation of hostilities."
According to the British official, who insisted on anonymity, intensive diplomatic events, led by Britain, were held behind the scenes to help the United States and Ukraine reach an agreement.
According to John Herbst, the former US ambassador to Ukraine, instead of directly rejecting the US-Ukraine plan, Putin may try to revise it or declare that it does not apply to the territory seized by Ukraine in the Kursk region.
"In other words, Moscow will continue its course, and then what will the Trump administration say?" — said Herbst, who holds the position of senior director of the Atlantic Council.
According to Bloomberg News on Tuesday, Trump, who has repeatedly stated that, in his opinion, Putin wants peace, may support some of his demands by starting a review of the agreement reached by his emissaries. Western security officials say Putin is deliberately making maximalist demands because he knows they will be unacceptable to Ukraine and Europe and the fighting will continue.
In Jeddah, Waltz told reporters that the Ukrainian delegation had "made concrete steps and proposals," including "how to put an end to this war forever." The two countries said in a joint statement that they had also agreed to conclude an agreement on participation in the development of minerals in Ukraine, required by Trump, "as soon as possible."
In a video message to Ukrainians, Zelensky said that "Ukraine is ready for peace" and "Russia must show whether it is ready to end the war or continue it."
Trump sent Rubio and Waltz to meet with the Ukrainian delegation after an argument in the Oval Office on February 28 that led to the suspension of military aid to Ukraine. When asked on Tuesday whether Zelensky would be invited back to the White House, Trump replied: "Of course, absolutely."
Rubio and Waltz met with the chief assistant to the President of Ukraine, Andriy Ermak, as well as the country's defense and foreign ministers, Rustem Umerov and Andriy Sibiga.
The mission in Moscow
The truce proposal was received due to the difficult situation of Ukraine on the front line due to a shortage of weapons and manpower.
U.S. Ambassador Steve Witkoff is scheduled to meet with Putin in Moscow, Bloomberg News reports. As a motivation for accepting the ceasefire agreement, he may, among other things, offer Putin a summit meeting with Trump.
There was no immediate reaction from Russian officials to the U.S.-Ukraine agreement. But Fyodor Lukyanov, head of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, a think tank that advises the Kremlin, said that "the way it's worded here is unlikely to satisfy anyone."
"We have said many times that a truce will not take place without agreeing on conditions for establishing lasting peace,— Lukyanov said. "There are no conditions here, everything will have to be negotiated later."
