Marco Rubio Says The Ball is in Russia's Court After Getting Ukraine to Agree to Ceasefire Terms

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the "ball is in Russia's court" after Ukraine agreed to terms for a 30-day ceasefire in the countries' three-year-long war on Tuesday.

Speaking to press after discussions with Ukrainian and Saudi officials, Rubio said Washington D.C. will now "take this offer to the Russians" and that "hopefully they will say yes to peace."

"The ball is now in their court. The president's number one goal is for the war to end. I think today Ukraine has taken a concrete step in that regard, we hope the Russians will reciprocate," Rubio added.

A joint statement from Washington D.C. and Kyiv detailed that the countries "took important steps toward restoring durable peace for Ukraine." "Ukraine expressed readiness to accept the U.S. proposal to enact an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and which is subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation," reads a passage of the document, which also includes the resumption of arms shipments and intelligence sharing with Kyiv.

The statement does not disclose the terms of the potential ceasefire, but The Associated Press reported earlier on Tuesday that it would cover the Black Sea and long-range missile strikes, as well as the release of prisoners.

Another report, this one by Bloomberg, cautioned that Western Security officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin has no intention of compromising on land, peacekeepers and Ukrainian neutrality demands, potentially complicating any positive outcome.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected the report, saying "Russia is open for peace efforts, for peace settlement around Ukraine, and we actually prefer to reach our goals through peaceful and diplomatic means." "If today and tomorrow shows that Ukraine is ready for negotiations, it will be a different story."

However, the outlet had reported last week that Putin was ready to begin discussing a potential ceasefire with Ukraine provided some conditions are met, including the conformation of a peacekeeping mission. The offer was conveyed last months during talks in Saudi Arabia between U.S. and Russian officials. Moscow indicated that any cessation of hostilities would need to include a clear understanding regarding the framework of a final peace agreement.

President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to travel to Moscow later this week. He could meet President Vladimir Putin and get the country's response to the matter.