By SAMYA KULLAB, Related Press
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. arms deliveries to Ukraine resumed Wednesday, officers mentioned, a day after the Trump administration lifted its suspension of army help for Kyiv in its struggle in opposition to Russia’s invasion, and Ukrainian officers signaled that they have been open to a 30-day ceasefire backed by Washington.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov mentioned Wednesday that it’s vital to not “get ahead” of the query of responding to the ceasefire proposal. He instructed reporters that Moscow is awaiting “detailed information” about it from the U.S. and recommended that Russia should get that first earlier than it could possibly take a place.
Arms deliveries to Ukraine have already resumed via a Polish logistics heart, the overseas ministers of Ukraine and Poland introduced Wednesday. The deliveries undergo a NATO and U.S. hub within the jap Polish metropolis of Rzeszow that’s has been used to ferry Western weapons into neighboring Ukraine about 45 miles away.
The American army assist is significant for Ukraine’s shorthanded and weary military, which is having a tricky time protecting Russia’s greater army pressure at bay. However for Moscow, extra American help spells probably extra problem in attaining its conflict goals and certain shall be a tricky promote in Moscow for Washington’s peace efforts.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned Wednesday that Washington will pursue “multiple points of contacts” with Russia to see if President Vladimir Putin is able to negotiate an finish to the conflict. He declined to provide particulars.
“The ball is truly in their court,” Rubio mentioned at a refueling stopover in Shannon, Eire on his method to talks in Canada with different Group of Seven main industrialized nations.
Rubio mentioned he hoped to see Russia cease assaults on Ukraine inside the subsequent few days as a primary step.
“We don’t think it’s constructive to stand here today and say what we’re going to do if Russia says no,” Rubio mentioned, including he needed to keep away from statements about Russia that “are abrasive in any way.”
Escalation of battle amid ceasefire talks
His feedback got here amid intensifying Russian effort to push Ukrainian forces out of its Kursk area that has yielded breakthroughs in latest days, Ukrainian troopers instructed The Related Press. The preventing has escalated as ceasefire talks come to a head, with Moscow intent on taking again its territory and Kyiv decided to carry onto it as a bargaining chip in any negotiations.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and U.S. Nationwide Safety Advisor Mike Waltz converse with the media following conferences with a Ukrainian delegation in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, March 11, 2025. (Saul Loeb/Pool Photograph by way of AP)
Ukrainian forces made a daring raid into the Russian area final August within the first overseas occupation of Russian territory since World Conflict II. They’ve held on regardless of intense stress from tens of 1000’s of Russian and North Korean troops.
Latest preventing reportedly has centered on the Kursk city of Sudzha, which is a key Ukrainian provide hub and operational base. Ukrainian troopers mentioned the scenario is dynamic and preventing continues in and across the city, however three of them conceded Russian forces have been making headway.
Inside Ukraine, Russian ballistic missiles killed at the least 5 civilians, officers mentioned Wednesday,
U.S. President Donald Trump desires to finish the three-year conflict and pressured Zelenskyy to enter talks. The suspension of U.S. help got here days after Zelenskyy and Trump argued concerning the battle in a tense White Home assembly.
Rubio, who led the American delegation to Tuesday’s talks in Saudi Arabia, mentioned Washington would current the ceasefire supply to the Kremlin, which has thus far opposed something wanting a everlasting finish to the battle and hasn’t accepted any concessions.
“We’re going to tell (the Russians) this is what’s on the table. Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking. And now it’ll be up to them to say yes or no,” Rubio instructed reporters after the talks. “If they say no, then we’ll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here.”
Trump’s particular envoy, Steve Witkoff, is anticipated to journey this week to Moscow, the place he may meet with Putin, in accordance with an individual acquainted with the matter however not approved to remark publicly. The individual cautioned that scheduling may change.
Russian officers are cautious concerning the U.S.-Ukraine talks
Russian lawmakers signaled wariness concerning the prospect of a ceasefire.
“Russia is advancing (on the battlefield), so it will be different with Russia,” senior Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev famous in a submit on the messaging app Telegram.
“Any agreements (with the understanding of the need for compromise) should be on our terms, not American,” Kosachev wrote.
The end result of the Saudi Arabia talks “places the onus on Washington to persuade Moscow to accept and implement the ceasefire,” mentioned John Hardie, a protection analyst and deputy director of the Russia Program on the Basis for Protection of Democracies, a Washington-based analysis institute.
“Moscow will present itself as cooperative, but may push for agreement on basic principles for a final peace deal before agreeing to a ceasefire,” he mentioned.
“Russia may also insist on barring Western military aid to Ukraine during the ceasefire and on Ukraine holding elections ahead of a long-term peace agreement.”
Russia’s overseas intelligence service, often called the SVR, reported Wednesday morning that the service’s chief, Sergei Naryshkin, spoke on the cellphone with CIA Director John Ratcliffe on Tuesday.
The 2 mentioned cooperation “in areas of common interest and the resolution of crisis situations,” in accordance with an announcement by the SVR.
Stefanie Dazio in Berlin, and Sylvie Corbet in Paris, contributed to this report.
