Russian President Vladimir Putin has so far offered zero concessions to end the war, nor has he been asked for any by President Donald Trump. Washington, meanwhile, has suggested Ukraine will have to surrender swathes of territory to Russia, while giving up not only hope of joining NATO but also any security guarantees from Washington.
Putin, for his part, has called for only a ceasefire that amounts to a surrender by Ukraine, inclduing Kyiv relinquishing control of the regions Russia has occupied — around 20% of the country — and agreeing to ditch its NATO aspirations.
On Tuesday, other voices in Moscow were wary or outright hostile toward the deal hashed out by Rubio, National Security adviser Mike Waltz, and the Ukrainians in the Saudi city of Jeddah. Those pro-war figures fear that a ceasefire will allow Ukrainians to regroup and rearm — something Ukrainians also fear from the Russian military.
The “ceasefire agreement will not work,” said Alexander Dugin, an ultranationalist philosopher sometimes referred to as ‘Putin’s Rasputin’ thanks to his long beard and ties to the Kremlin.
“Putin will not accept a ceasefire as Russia many times clearly said before, without discussing the conditions of solid peace. Trump this time is wrong,” Dugin wrote in a post on X.
Rubio and Waltz emerged with the proposal after around 10 hours of talks with Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Andrii Sybiha, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Andriy Yermak, the chief of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s presidential office.
They agreed to resume the flow of U.S. aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine. Ukrainian officials also said they would be willing to enforce an immediate 30-day ceasefire.
Rubio said it would be up to Moscow whether to accept.
“We’re going to tell them this is what’s on the table: Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking. And now it’ll be up to them to say yes or no,” the Secretary of State told reporters Tuesday. “If they say no, then we’ll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here.”
Even if Putin were to agree to this interim détente, there remains a gulf between the positions of Russia and Ukraine, which wants security guarantees before signing a ceasefire with a giant neighbor that has violated past agreements.
Richard Engel and Gabe Joselow contributed.
