After securing Ukrainian President Volodymyr ZelenskyāsĀ support for a 30-day truce in the war, Secretary of StateĀ Marco RubioĀ came out of talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, saying the geopolitical ball was now in Russian President Vladimir Putinās court.Ā Ā
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Steve Witkoff, special envoy and top Trump negotiator with Russia, was reportedly planning a meeting with Putin as soon as this week. Senate Republicans expressed doubt Wednesday that Russia would back the ceasefire and warned that Putin was not an honest broker.Ā
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āI am extremely skeptical that Russia will accept the ceasefire, and I am very doubtful they want to end this war. Zelensky has passed the test of wanting peace. It is now up to Putin to show his cards,ā Sen. Lindsey GrahamĀ (R-S.C.) wrote in a post on the social platform X.Ā
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Sen.Ā John CornynĀ (R-Texas) shared a similar skepticism.Ā
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āI personally am skeptical, because [Putinās] ideologically driven of wanting to restore the Russian empire, and heās shown that he doesnāt respect any agreements,ā Cornyn said.
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Trump signaled Wednesday that he could exert pressure on Putin if Russia holds back from joining a ceasefire agreement.Ā Ā
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āI can do things financially that would be very bad for Russia, I donāt want to do that because I want to get peace,ā he said, echoing past threats to tariff and isolate Moscow economically.Ā
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Putin is likely to assert his demands in the deal, dragging out the process toward a ceasefire,Ā Bloomberg reportedĀ Wednesday.
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āWhat we want to do is have the best possible negotiating position for Ukraine, because we know we canāt trust Russia,ā said Sen.Ā Jeanne ShaheenĀ (D-N.H.), the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.Ā
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āWeāve seen that. What we need is to holdĀ Vladimir PutinĀ accountable for what heās done.ā
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Read the full report at TheHill.com.
