Ukraine agrees to 30-day ceasefire proposal, US restores military aid

Kiev [Ukraine], March 12: After high-level talks on March 11 in Saudi Arabia, Ukraine agreed to the US proposal for a ceasefire with Russia and the US restored military aid and intelligence sharing.
The United States has agreed to resume military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine after Kyiv accepted Washington's proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in its conflict with Russia, Reuters reported on March 12, citing a joint statement from the United States and Ukraine.
The United States and Ukraine also agreed to sign a comprehensive agreement on the development of Ukraine's vital mineral resources as soon as possible, the statement said. Ukraine also reiterated that European partners should be involved in the peace process.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would forward the offer to Russia and the decision would be up to Moscow.
"We hope that the Russians will agree as soon as possible, so that we can move on to the second phase, which is the real negotiations," Mr. Rubio told reporters after more than eight hours of dialogue in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia).
The diplomat said the US wanted a full agreement with both Russia and Ukraine as soon as possible. "Every day that goes by, this war continues, people are dying, people are being bombed, people are being injured on both sides of this conflict," he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is in Saudi Arabia but not taking part in the talks, said the ceasefire was a "positive proposal" that included the frontline, not just the air and sea.
The Ukrainian leader said the ceasefire would come into effect as soon as Russia agreed.
"When the agreements come into force, during these 30 days of 'silence' we will have time to prepare together with our partners at the level of working documents on all aspects of reliable peace and lasting security," Zelensky said.
Rubio said the plan would be conveyed to Russia through multiple channels. US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz is expected to meet with his Russian counterpart in the coming days. US President Donald Trump 's special envoy Steve Witkoff is also scheduled to travel to Moscow this week to meet with President Vladimir Putin.
On March 11, Mr. Trump expressed hope for a quick ceasefire and said he would speak with Mr. Putin this week. "I hope it will happen in the next couple of days," he told reporters at a White House event to promote Tesla, the car company of close adviser Elon Musk.
Meanwhile, TASS news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that the Russian government had not received any information about the dialogue between the US and Ukraine regarding efforts to settle the conflict in Ukraine. "No, not yet," he said in response to a reporter's question on the evening of March 11 (Moscow time), when the dialogue had been going on for 6 hours. On March 11, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russia did not rule out the possibility of contacting US representatives.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper