Ukraine accepts a ceasefire, but does Russia want one?

Pressure now on Moscow to decide whether it, too, will agree to US proposal

- Jonathan Eyal

Russia has offered only a lukewarm and hesitant response to news that Ukraine had accepted a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in the Ukrainian war.

"We do not rule out contacts with representatives of the United States in the coming days" - that was all that Ms Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, was prepared to tell reporters in Moscow in the late hours of March 11, soon after news emerged of Ukraine's acceptance of a ceasefire.

There is little doubt that Ukraine's sudden change of attitude, from a previous determination to continue fighting to the acceptance of a cessation of hostilities, has put Russia in a tricky diplomatic position.

And it is equally apparent that, after initially blaming Ukraine for refusing to contemplate peace, the US administration now needs to apply all the pressure it can muster on Moscow to come to the negotiating table.

Nearly two weeks after the disastrous White House encounter on Feb 28 between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky — during which the American leader berated and publicly humiliated his guest — delegations from the US and Ukraine met in the Saudi Arabian coastal city of Jeddah for discussions held entirely behind closed doors.

A carefully choreographed diplomatic protocol was designed to emphasise Ukraine's determination to take the talks seriously while upholding the country's dignity.

For example, Mr Zelensky travelled to Saudi Arabia on March 10, an exceptional gesture given that the US-Ukrainian talks were not at the level of heads of state.