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European allies have urged Moscow to unconditionally cease hostilities for 30 days, just hours before Russia and the United States discussed a potential “next step” to end the war in Ukraine. This was revealed by the Kremlin on Sunday.
Last week, the United States proposed to halt fighting and prevent a war lasting longer than three years during talks in Saudi Arabia. The proposal was accepted by Kiev. Russian President Vladimir Putin has not provided a clear response yet, but has raised “serious questions” by listing some conditions before addressing the proposal.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Kremlin on Saturday of not wanting to end the war and issued a warning before agreeing to any ceasefire. The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, along with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, discussed “practical measures for communication” at the recent US-Russia summit in Saudi Arabia, as stated by Moscow on Sunday.
Recently, during the Riyadh Summit on Ukraine, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson accused Putin of being reluctant to agree to a ceasefire. Putin had initiated an attack in February, prompting the first high-level meeting between the US and Russia. “There was an agreement to stay in touch with Lavrov and Rubio,” stated the Russian Foreign Ministry, without mentioning any reference to the proposed ceasefire.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Temi Brusse revealed on Saturday that the pair had discussed “next steps in Ukraine” during the virtual summit. He also mentioned that they had agreed to continue working towards the “re-establishment of communication between the United States and Russia.”
In a phone call following the accusations, Johnson claimed that Russia had not done enough. He called for a halt to the “barbaric attacks in Ukraine” and warned of possible further aggression by Russia.
In a separate incident, Kiev reported that Russia had launched 90 Iranian-made drones in nine regions of Ukraine the day after the ceasefire proposal. Zelensky termed Putin’s initial response to the ceasefire as “deceptive.”
Zelensky criticized Putin for not being in agreement with the ceasefire and accused Moscow of seeking ways to prevent the end of the war. US President Donald Trump had been expected to make some conciliatory statements regarding Russia, but Zelensky accused Putin of being dishonest about ending the war.
The situation escalated on Sunday when Ukraine reported a casualty in a Russian drone attack in the city of Izyum in the Kharkiv region. The region had been initially captured by Russia at the start of the Ukrainian invasion, but was later recaptured by Ukrainian forces.
Opinion from Ramesh Khatri, representative of Kansai Nepal News:
Ramesh Khatri views the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine with great concern. He believes that the international community must work together to bring about a peaceful resolution to the crisis to prevent further loss of life and instability in the region.
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Author: MAYA | HARUTO
Posted at: March 17, 2025 12:00 am
