March 12, 2025 (EIRNS)—At a press conference in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on March 11, following his meeting with a Ukrainian delegation headed by Zelenskyy’s head of the presidential office Andriy Yermak, U.S. Secretary of State Rubio discussed the ceasefire proposal the two delegations agreed to. “We’ll take this offer now to the Russians, and we hope that they’ll say yes, that they’ll say yes to peace. The ball is now in their court.... And I think today Ukraine has taken a concrete step in that regard. We hope the Russians will reciprocate.”
Rubio reiterated in response to a reporter’s question: “We’re going to tell them [Russia] 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. I hope they’re going to say yes. And if they do, then I think we made great progress. If they say no, then we’ll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here.”
