US expects Russia to present ceasefire conditions with Ukraine to better understand Putin - Rubio
Photo: Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State (Getty Images)
The US expects Russia to present its conditions for a ceasefire with Ukraine. Then the intentions of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, will become clearer, states US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a Senate hearing.
According to the Secretary of State, Putin approaches the peace process with a cold calculation of costs and benefits for Russia. But the head of the Kremlin definitely did not get the war he expected.
"When he first invaded Ukraine, I think he anticipated that the government would collapse and that, he would be greeted as a liberator, and it has not turned out that way. And in fact, Russia today controls less territory than it did after the first two months of the war," Rubio pointed out.
He also reminded that during the negotiations in Istanbul, Ukraine and Russia agreed to conduct a prisoner exchange on a 1000 for 1000 basis. According to the Secretary of State, this is a good result.
However, in his view, there has been no progress toward peace between the countries so far.
He emphasized that the Russians were preparing conditions they would demand to achieve a ceasefire, which would open the door to broader negotiations. He added that he would better understand Mr. Putin’s calculations once those conditions were revealed.
Negotiations between Ukraine and Russia
Last week, during talks in Istanbul, Ukraine and Russia agreed to submit their written proposals outlining their vision for a possible ceasefire lasting at least 30 days.
At the same time, according to media reports, Russia demanded that Ukraine completely withdraw its troops from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions as a condition for such a truce.
