Russian missiles kill 5 in Ukraine as Kremlin mulls ceasefire prospects
apnews.com
Soldiers of Ukraine's 5th brigade hold a poster thanking for the US for support during a flashmob at the front line near Toretsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Roman Chop)2025-03-12T10:22:26Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Russian ballistic missiles killed at least five civilians in Ukraine, officials said Wednesday, a day after the Trump administration lifted its suspension of military aid for Kyivs fight against Russias invasion and Ukrainian officials signaled they were open to a 30-day ceasefire.The Kremlin didnt comment on the agreement announced Tuesday between the U.S. and Ukraine on the provision of further military support, including intelligence sharing, and the possibility of a ceasefire that Washington backs.Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that its important not to get ahead of the question of responding to the 30-day ceasefire proposal. He told reporters that Moscow is awaiting detailed information about it from the U.S. and suggested Russia must get that before it can take a position.The Russian missiles killed four Syrian men between the ages of 18 and 24 on a ship docked at the southern port of Odesa late Tuesday, where it was loading Ukrainian wheat for Algeria, Infrastructure Minister Oleksii Kuleba said. Another missile killed a woman in Kryvih Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskyys hometown in central Ukraine, authorities said. The American help is vital for Ukraines shorthanded and weary army, which is having a tough time keeping Russias bigger military force at bay. But for Moscow, more American aid spells potentially more difficulty in achieving its war aims and likely will be a tough sell in Moscow for Washingtons peace efforts. Arms deliveries to Ukraine have already resumed through a Polish logistics center, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Poland announced Wednesday.The deliveries go through a NATO and U.S. hub in the eastern Polish city of Rzeszow thats has been used to ferry Western weapons into neighboring Ukraine about 70 kilometers (45 miles) away.U.S. President Donald Trump wants to end the three-year war and pressured Zelenskyy to enter talks. The suspension of U.S. assistance came days after Zelenskyy and Trump argued about the conflict in a tense White House meeting. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who led the American delegation to Tuesdays talks in Saudi Arabia, said that Washington would present the ceasefire offer to the Kremlin, which has so far opposed anything short of a permanent end to the conflict and hasnt accepted any concessions.Were going to tell (the Russians) this is whats on the table. Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking. And now itll be up to them to say yes or no, Rubio told reporters after the talks. If they say no, then well unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here.Trumps special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to travel this week to Moscow, where he could meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a person familiar with the matter but not authorized to comment publicly. The person cautioned that scheduling could change.French President Emmanuel Macron welcome the U.S.-Ukraine agreement and said on X that the ball is now clearly in Russias court. Russian officials are wary about the U.S.-Ukraine talksRussian lawmakers signaled wariness about the prospect of a ceasefire.Russia is advancing (on the battlefield), so it will be different with Russia, senior Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev noted in a post on the messaging app Telegram.Any agreements (with the understanding of the need for compromise) should be on our terms, not American, Kosachev wrote.Lawmaker Mikhail Sheremet told the state news agency Tass that Russia is not interested in continuing the war but at the same time Moscow will not tolerate being strung along.The outcome of the Saudi Arabia talks puts the ball back in Russias court and places the onus on Washington to persuade Moscow to accept and implement the ceasefire, John Hardie, a defense analyst and deputy director of the Russia Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based research institute.Moscow will present itself as cooperative, but may push for agreement on basic principles for a final peace deal before agreeing to a ceasefire, he said. Russia may also insist on barring Western military aid to Ukraine during the ceasefire and on Ukraine holding elections ahead of a long-term peace agreement.Russias foreign intelligence service, known as the SVR, reported Wednesday morning that the services chief, Sergei Naryshkin, spoke on the phone with CIA Director John Ratcliffe on Tuesday.The two discussed cooperation in areas of common interest and the resolution of crisis situations, according to a statement by the SVR.___Stefanie Dazio in Berlin, and Sylvie Corbet in Paris, contributed to this report.___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine SAMYA KULLAB Kullab is an Associated Press reporter covering Ukraine since June 2023. Before that, she covered Iraq and the wider Middle East from her base in Baghdad since joining the AP in 2019. twitter instagram mailto
0 Комментарии
·0 Поделились
·63 Просмотры
·0 предпросмотр