US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expected that Russia will submit its conditions to conclude a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine “within days”, but its president, Volodimir Zellinski, accused Moscow of working to earn time to procrastinate in peace talks that offered the Pope of Pope Liu 14 his willingness to mediate between the two countries.
During a hearing in front of a committee in the US Senate on Tuesday, Rubio said, “At one time, very soon, perhaps within a few days, and perhaps this week, the Russian side will provide the conditions he wants to fulfill to reach a ceasefire.”
Rubio attributed his expectation to the phone call by US President Donald Trump with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Monday, as well as the conversation he himself with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov last week.
The American minister explained that the Russians will present “only general conditions that enable us to advance towards a ceasefire, and this endowment to shoot would then allow us to enter into detailed negotiations to end the conflict.”
“We hope this matter will happen. We believe that the paper of the conditions that the Russians will present will tell us a lot about their true intention. If it is a paper conditions and can be built on it, then this will be a good thing, but if it includes demands we know that it is unrealistic, then I believe that it will be an indication of the truth of Russia’s intention.”
Ukrainian skepticism
For his part, Russian President of Ukrainian accused Moscow of “working to gain time to continue the war against Kiev,” calling on the allies to “make unremitting efforts” to persuade Trump of the necessity of imposing more sanctions.
Ukraine and Europe are trying to pressure Trump to impose on Moscow a huge new package of sanctions after Putin refrained from going to Türkiye with direct talks with Zelinski.
The European Union officially approved the 17th package of sanctions against Moscow, which targets 200 ships within the so -called Russian “shadow fleet”, which angered Russia.
Russia has withstood the sanctions and re -directed its vital oil and gas supplies to India and China.
Trump said in the wake of his call with Putin that Siya and Ukraine were ready to start “immediate” negotiations to reach a ceasefire between them. But his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, was more cautious, as he said that Moscow “will propose a memorandum on a possible future peace agreement.”
Trump said his two -hour connection with Putin, the third so far this year, has achieved a breakthrough.
Vatican offer
In the wake of the telephone talks between Trump and Putin, last Monday, Italian Prime Minister Georgeta Meloni said yesterday that the 14th Pope Liu confirmed to her the Vatican’s readiness to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
Meloni spoke to the Pope yesterday, and indicated that she was “ready to host discussions between the two parties in the Vatican.” Meloni thanked the Pope “his firm commitment to peace.”
According to the Italian Prime Minister’s office, after contacting Trump, Trump held talks with European leaders, including Meloni, who, according to her office, held a confirmation from the Pope for his willingness to host peace talks in the Vatican.
Meloni’s office indicated that it also spoke yesterday to the Ukrainian president and a number of leaders of the world, in order to keep the “close coordination” in existence towards peace talks.
It is reported that during his meeting with the representatives of the Eastern Catholic Churches last week, the new Pope of the Vatican showed his mediation between Moscow and Kiev.
It is noteworthy that the recent efforts to end the war that broke out with Russia began to invade Ukraine in the year 2022, did not make any breakthrough, and Putin rejected the ceasefire proposals made by Kiev.