Roving Periscope: EU welcomes Ukraine ceasefire decision; Trump to call Putin

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: The European Union on Wednesday welcomed Ukraine’s decision to agree to a 30-day ceasefire with Russia, an outcome that emerged following talks between American and Ukrainian negotiators in Saudi Arabia, as Washington decided to resume intelligence sharing and security assistance to Ukraine.

Welcoming it, the 27-nation EU said it is ready to play its “full part” in supporting the upcoming steps, together with Ukraine, the US, and other partners, the media reported.

In the US, President Donald Trump said he would invite his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy back to the White House soon and talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin this week.

Hours after Saudi Arabia hosted top officials from the US and Ukraine, Trump said he hoped Russia would agree to a ceasefire plan drawn up by American and Ukrainian officials and that there would be a US meeting with Russia later.

He hoped a total ceasefire could be achieved in the coming days to end the three-year-long war.

“Now we have to go to Russia and hopefully President Putin will agree to that also,” Trump said.

“I’ll talk to Vladimir Putin, yeah… Hopefully, he’ll also agree (to the ceasefire) and I really think that would be 75 percent of the way,” Trump said.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy posted on X a self-recorded video saying Ukraine was ready to accept the ceasefire proposal and that it was up to the US to convince Russia to do the same.

“I received a report from our delegation on their meeting with the American team in Saudi Arabia. The discussion lasted most of the day and was good and constructive—our teams were able to discuss many important details,” Zelenskyy wrote.

“Our position remains absolutely clear: Ukraine has been seeking peace from the very first second of this war, and we want to do everything to achieve it as soon as possible and in a reliable way—so that war does not return,” he added.

“Ukraine is ready to accept this proposal—we see it as a positive step and are ready to take it. Now, it is up to the United States to convince Russia to do the same. If Russia agrees, the ceasefire will take effect immediately.”

Both peace talks and war efforts, however, continued apace.

Senior officials from Ukraine and the US opened talks on Tuesday focused on ending the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, hours after Russia shot down over 300 Ukrainian drones. It was Ukraine’s biggest attack since the Kremlin ordered the full-scale invasion of its neighbour on February 24, 2022.

The talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah came after Trump paused US military aid to Ukraine last week, along with some intelligence sharing, to pressure Zelenskyy to engage in negotiations to end the war.

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel later this week to Moscow to meet with Putin, the media reported.

It was the first meeting between the US and Ukraine since the Oval Office blowup between Trump and Zelenskyy last month.

The delegations met for about three hours in the morning before taking a break, and officials said the talks continued in the afternoon.

The ball is now in the Russian court. It is not yet clear whether Moscow will accept the proposal as the Kremlin said it is waiting for a briefing by the US on the outcome of its talks with Ukraine in Jeddah on Tuesday.

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said the bloc “welcomes the joint statement by Ukraine and the US following their meeting in Saudi Arabia, including the proposals for a ceasefire agreement.”

Kallas said the EU’s objective is to support Ukraine to reach a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the principles of the UN Charter and international law.

“The proposal of a ceasefire – if accepted by Russia – can be an important step in this direction. It is now for Russia to show its willingness to achieve peace,” she said.

Following their talks, Ukraine and the US in a joint statement said Kyiv expressed readiness to accept the US proposal to “enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and which is subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation.”

It said the US will “communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace.”

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday hailed the “progress” made in peace talks in Saudi Arabia between Ukraine and the United States and said it was now up to Russia to ensure a ceasefire is signed.

“The ball is now clearly in the Russian court,” Macron said on X, adding that progress had been made in the Jeddah talks “in particular on the idea of a possible 30-day ceasefire.”