US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would now take the offer to the Russians, and that the ball was now in Moscow’s court.
“The President wanted this war to end yesterday… So our hope is that the Russians will answer ‘yes’ as quickly as possible, so we can get to the second phase of this, which is real negotiations,” Rubio told reporters, referring to US President Donald Trump, after the statement was issued.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was in Saudi Arabia but did not participate in the talks, said the ceasefire was a “positive proposal,” that covers the frontline in the conflict, not just fighting by air and sea.
The two sides also said Washington and Kyiv agreed to conclude as soon as possible a comprehensive agreement for developing Ukraine’s critical mineral resources, a deal that has been in the works for weeks and was thrown into limbo by an acrimonious White House meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy last week.
Zelenskyy said the two countries would work to finalise the minerals agreement.
A top aide to Zelenskyy said options for security guarantees to Ukraine were discussed with US officials. The aide did not detail the options.
