The proposal covers the entire front line of the fighting with Russia, and not just the air and sea, Zelensky said.
“Ukraine accepts this proposal, we consider it positive, we are ready to take this step, and the United States of America needs to convince Russia to do so,” Zelensky said in an address to the nation as per the official website of the President of Ukraine. The ceasefire would start the moment Moscow agrees to it, he added.
The onus is now on Russia to take steps to end the war, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said immediately after the meeting.
President Donald Trump later welcomed the news, saying he would speak to President Vladimir Putin about the plan.
The US-Ukraine joint statement emphasised that Kyiv had “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.”
“The United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace,” it said.
The two sides also agreed to conclude a rare minerals deal ‘as soon as possible’ to expand Ukraine’s economy and guarantee the country’s long-term security.
The European Union called the agreement a ‘positive development’, while British Prime Minister Keir Starmer congratulated the leaders of both countries on a ‘remarkable breakthrough’.
ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)
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