Sources claims Kremlin wary, as Poland reports that US military aid flow to Ukraine is already back up to speed.
Russia has remained tight-lipped regarding Ukraine’s acceptance of a United States ceasefire deal.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Russia was waiting for a briefing from the United States following the talks with Ukrainian officials before it would comment on its stance on the proposed ceasefire. However, there are signals suggesting that Moscow is wary, while US military aid to Kyiv has quickly resumed.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that it’s important not to “get ahead” of the question of responding to the ceasefire proposal, and suggested that a phone call between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump to discuss the matter has not been ruled out.
“We assume that Secretary of State Rubio and Advisor [Michael] Walz through various channels in the coming days will inform us on the negotiations that took place and the understandings reached,” he added.
Ukraine expressed “readiness” to accept a 30-day ceasefire at a meeting in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The US has said that the ball is now in Russia’s court.
Moscow officials, however, have signalled that Russia is wary.
“Russia is advancing [on the battlefield], so it will be different with Russia,” Senator Konstantin Kosachev noted in a post on the messaging app Telegram. “Any agreements should be on our terms, not American.”
A senior Russian source told Reuters that Russia would need to hash out the terms of any ceasefire and get guarantees of some description.
“It is difficult for Putin to agree to this in its current form,” the source, said. “Putin has a strong position because Russia is advancing.”
Return to arms
In response to Ukraine’s agreement with the ceasefire proposal, the US agreed to resume military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv, which were suspended last week following a spat between Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Poland, which acts as a logistics hub for the delivery of military aid to its eastern neighbour, said on Wednesday morning that the flow of weapons was already back to previous levels.
“I confirm that arms deliveries via Jasionka [logistics hub] have returned to previous levels,” Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told reporters.
The news was welcomed by Kyiv’s European allies, who are now seeking to up the pressure on Russia to respond to the ceasefire proposal.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, “The idea of a 30-day ceasefire is an important and correct step towards a just peace for Ukraine … Now it’s up to [President Vladimir] Putin.”
Continued fighting
Amid the intense diplomatic back-and-forth, the fighting on the ground has continued.
Just before the meeting in Saudi Arabia, Ukraine launched its largest-ever drone attack on Moscow, killing several people and causing widespread damage.
Kyiv said that the barrage was intended to encourage Putin to accept the proposals of a truce.
Late on Tuesday, Russian ballistic missiles killed four Syrian men as they hit a ship docked at the southern Ukrainian port of Odesa. Another missile killed a woman in Kryvih Rih.
In the Russian region of Kursk held by Kyiv, Ukrainian troops appeared on the point of losing their hard-won foothold, as Moscow claimed further advances, and military bloggers on both sides said Kyiv’s forces were withdrawing.
