US: The ball is now in Russia's court

Newshour

BBC

News, Daily News

4.4 • 984 Ratings

🗓️ 11 March 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

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Summary

Ukraine has backed a US proposal for a 30 day ceasefire in the war with Russia, subject to the agreement of Moscow. The announcement follows eight hours of talks between Ukrainian and US delegations in Saudi Arabia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (who wasn't at the talks) said the proposal included a truce along the entire front line, not just in the air and at sea. The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told journalists in Jeddah that the ball was now in Russia's court. The US has agreed to immediately lift its pause on military aid for Ukraine and intelligence sharing as a result of the talks. We speak to veteran US diplomat Kurt Volker.

Also in the programme: The former President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte is on his way to The Netherlands to face charges from the International Criminal Court related to his war on drugs; and armed militants in Pakistan attack a train and seize hundreds of hostages.

(Photo: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz speak with the media after meetings with a Ukrainian delegation in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia March 11, 2025. Saul Loeb/Pool via Reuters)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Newsar from the BBC World Service coming to you live from our studios in central London.
0:10.1	I'm Julian Marshall.
0:11.8	The United States and Ukraine have concluded their meeting in Saudi Arabia where they were discussing ways of ending the conflict.
0:19.2	But the Ukrainian delegation might have been forgiven for thinking that
0:22.7	they were facing a foe rather than a friend. Since President Trump unilaterally open communications
0:28.3	with President Putin in a telephone call last month, the White House has been piling the pressure on
0:34.3	Ukraine. There was that infamous row in the Oval Office, followed by the US decision,
0:39.5	to suspend military aid to Ukraine along with intelligence sharing,
0:43.8	and it's been refusing to give any security guarantees in the event of a deal being reached.
0:49.3	But the Saudi talks ended with the United States agreeing immediately
0:53.5	to lift its paws on intelligence sharing with Ukraine and resume security assistance to Kiev, which Ukraine has confirmed, has now happened.
1:05.5	In a joint statement, Ukraine also backed a U.S. proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire, subject to the
1:12.6	agreement of Russia. At the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio told journalists in Jeddah that
1:18.6	it was now up to Russia to decide the next steps. Today, we made an offer that the Ukrainians have accepted,
1:24.4	which is to enter into a ceasefire and into immediate negotiations
1:29.0	to end this conflict in a way that's enduring and sustainable and accounts for their interests,
1:33.8	their security, their ability to prosper as a nation.
1:36.5	And hopefully we'll take this offer now to the Russians.
1:39.6	And we hope that they'll say yes, that they'll say yes to peace.
1:41.8	The ball is now in their court.
1:43.7	The President's objective here is number one, above everything else. He wants the war to end.
1:48.3	And I think today Ukraine has taken a concrete step in that regard. We hope the Russians will reciprocate.
	...

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