By The Epoch Times | Created at 2025-03-12 21:07:48 | Updated at 2025-03-13 01:58:35
4 hours ago
Officials are optimistic a cease-fire agreement could be days away from completion.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on March 12 that U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff plans to visit Russia in the coming days to discuss a cease-fire deal with Ukraine.
“We urge the Russians to sign on to this plan,” Leavitt said. “This is the closest we have been to peace in this war. We are at the 10th-yard line, and the president expects the Russians to help us run this into the end zone.”
Earlier in the day during a meeting with the Taoiseach of Ireland, Micheal Martin, President Donald Trump said members of his administration were on the way to Russia “as we speak.”
Vice President JD Vance said during the Oval Office gathering that a series of phone calls and in-person meetings are planned between U.S. and Russian officials.
Rumors have swirled of a U.S. delegation visiting Russia since news broke on March 11 that Ukraine was willing to agree to a cease-fire deal.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio declined to provide details about the timeline of Witkoff’s trip when pressed by reporters on March 12.
Related Stories
“Suffice it to say there is going to be multiple points of contact with the Russians to gauge—are they willing to do this or not,” Rubio said.
He suggested some specifics of the negotiations are necessarily kept private to facilitate deal-making.
Ukrainians are demanding the return of all prisoners of war, among other humanitarian aid requests, according to Rubio.
“There are areas of Ukraine that have been badly damaged that require immediate assistance,” he said. “These are the sorts of things that we talked about as being inclusive in the negotiation process.”
Trump’s administration is confident that Russian President Vladimir Putin will agree to a cease-fire in the near future.
“Our hope is that the Russians will answer yes as quickly as possible so we can get to the second phase of this, which is real negotiations,” Rubio said during a press conference in Saudi Arabia on March 11.
“Not never-ending dialogue, talk forever, but real negotiations to end this conflict in a way that’s acceptable to both sides, sustainable, and that ensures the stability and security of Ukraine for the long term.
“Obviously, as part of that negotiation, as we’re talking about how to end this conflict, there will be a lot of issues to unravel. But the No. 1 goodwill gesture we could see from the Russians is to see the Ukrainian offer and reciprocate it with a yes.”
Another Trump administration official said the recent progress is significant.
“We’ve gone from if the war is going to end to ... how the war is going to end. And this was an important first step,” U.S. national security adviser Michael Waltz said during the joint press conference.
The president has prioritized resolving the conflict in Ukraine, often vowing on the campaign trail to end the war.
Tensions erupted late last month after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was asked to leave a meeting with Trump, Vance, and other officials in the Oval Office that devolved into an argument over the details of a potential agreement.
Trump said on March 11 that Zelenskyy is welcome to return now that he is receptive to peace.
