Kyiv (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha announced that he informed a number of European partners about the “milestone” negotiations with the U.S. where Ukraine said it was ready to back Washington’s proposal for a 30-day ceasefire.
As reported by Reuters, following more than eight hours of discussions between Ukrainian and U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia, the United States is going to resume military assistance and intelligence sharing with Kyiv.
Why does Ukraine insist on EU participation in talks?
Sybiha, who participated in the Jeddah talks, stated that afterwards he spoke to several European foreign ministers, including UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy and European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas,
“about the outcomes of the milestone meeting.”
He said that the Ukrainian team told U.S. officials that EU allies must participate in any peace talks.
“We adhere to the position: no decisions on the long-term security of Europe without Europe,”
Sybiha stated.
The Ukrainian delegation also included Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian President’s Office, speaking to a journalist in Jeddah, Yermak said the importance of security guarantees to stop future aggression.
“Security guarantees, it’s very important because we want that this aggression never repeated in the future again. Of course, it’s very important. But now we think it’s necessary to discuss the most important — how to start this process. And we’re very open, and we want to have very constructive, deep, friendly, partners’ conversation with our American partners,”
He said.
What role is Poland playing in Ukraine peace efforts?
Sybiha will be in Warsaw for discussions with his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski, the Polish foreign ministry announced. Poland, Ukraine’s neighbour and a NATO ally, has been a steadfast advocate of Kyiv since Russia started its full-scale invasion three years ago, even as the number of Poles supporting continued military support to Kyiv drops.
The Tuesday U.S.-Ukraine agreement was a sharp turnaround from an acrimonious White House meeting on February 28 between U.S. President Donald Trump, who has long been a Ukraine aid sceptic, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Ukrainian President Zelenskiy, who was in Saudi Arabia but did not engage in the talks, said the ceasefire was a “positive proposal,” that covers the frontline in the conflict, not just the conflict by air and sea.
“Now, it is up to the United States to convince Russia to do the same,”
Zelenskiy said on his nightly video message. “If Russia agrees, the ceasefire will take effect immediately.
