Putin says he’s ‘carefully studying’ Washington-Kyiv cease-fire agreement as Rubio insists US will ‘have contact with Russians’

Vladimir Putin is “carefully studying” the outcome of high-stakes peace talks between Washington and Kyiv, Moscow said Wednesday as Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US will have contact with Russia to deliver the proposal directly.

The Kremlin said it was awaiting details from Washington about the 30-day cease-fire deal that Ukraine has so far agreed to, after Washington and Kyiv said Tuesday they were committed to “discussing these specific proposals with representatives from Russia.”

Russian officials expect the US will update them on “the details of the negotiations that took place and the understandings that were reached,” the Russian leader’s spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov said, according to The New York Times.

Peskov also noted: “Rubio and [National Security Adviser Mike] Waltz said that they would pass on detailed information to us through various channels about the essence of the conversation that took place in Jeddah. First, we must receive this information.”

Rubio, for his part, said the US was hoping for a positive response from Russia regarding the deal.

“We all eagerly await the Russian response and urge them strongly to consider ending all hostilities,” Rubio said during a stop in Ireland on his way back to Washington.

“If they say ‘no,’ then obviously we’ll have to examine everything and sort of figure out where we stand in the world and what their true intentions are. If they say no, it’ll tell us a lot about what their goals are and what their mindset is,” he continued.

Rubio would not indicate how the US would respond if Russian officials backed away from the deal, but said previous talks indicated a willingness from Moscow to cease the conflict.

When asked whether Russia could accept the cease-fire unconditionally, Rubio replied: “That’s what we want to know — whether they’re prepared to do it unconditionally.”

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he believes Kyiv “can expect” the US to take “strong steps” against Russia if Moscow were to reject the cease-fire proposal, according to CNN.

“As far as I understand we can expect strong steps. I don’t know details, but we are talking about respective sanction actions and strengthening of Ukraine,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky said Ukraine has accepted the 30-day deal proposed by the US, which would include a truce on the sea, in the air and on land.

“Everything depends on Russia. The US took steps, Ukraine made [its] position clear. Now Russia needs to respond,” he said.

Zelensky declined to say what would happen if Russia broke the 30-day cease-fire deal.

With Post wires