How the world reacted to the outcome of the Ukraine-US talks and what they say in Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the talks with the Americans "constructive" and the result "positive". In his opinion, now Russia needs to show its readiness for peace.

"Ukraine is ready for peace. Russia must show its readiness to end the war or continue the war. It is time for the complete truth," the president said.

US President Donald Trump also called the potential ceasefire "a very important achievement".

"If we can get Russia to do it, it will be great. If not, then we will just continue (fighting) and people will die. A lot of people," he told reporters.

 

Western reaction

 

Western leaders have largely responded positively to the Jeddah agreements. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he congratulated Zelensky and Trump on "this wonderful step forward."

"This is an important moment for peace in Ukraine and we all need to redouble our efforts to achieve a strong and secure peace as soon as possible. As the American and Ukrainian delegations have said, the ball is now in Russia's court. Russia must agree to a ceasefire and a cessation of hostilities," the prime minister said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he welcomed the progress made in the talks between the United States and Ukraine.

He also wrote that "the ball is now definitely in Russia's court."

German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock called the events in Jeddah "a turning point."

"The results of today's talks between Ukraine and the United States could be an important turning point in Ukraine's quest for lasting peace and security. Germany, together with our partners, will support the Ukrainian people on this path. Now Russia must stop its aggressive war."

Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, welcomed the results of the talks, in particular the White House's decision to renew military aid to Kiev.

"This is a positive development that can be a step towards a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine. The ball is now in Russia's court. The EU, together with its partners, stands ready to fully participate in the peace talks."

European foreign policy chief Kaya Callas welcomed the talks and said the EU would do everything it could to achieve a just and lasting peace.

US Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican, said the Kremlin's rejection of the proposed ceasefire should be grounds for imposing tougher sanctions on the Russian Federation.

"It is long past time for Russia to feel the enormous economic pain of its brutal invasion of Ukraine. I applaud President Donald Trump for his efforts to end this barbaric war as soon as possible."

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the Jeddah talks "an important step towards peace", Latvian President Edgars Rinkėvičs stressed that Ukraine has shown real readiness for a just and lasting peace, and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda stressed that "ensuring peace and guaranteeing security will be a key priority in the future".

 

How Russia reacted

 

Russian authorities have been cautious in commenting on the results of the Jeddah talks. As Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, "Russia is carefully studying the statements after the talks between the United States and Ukraine" and expects details of the talks from Secretary of State Mark Rubio and Donald Trump's national security assistant Mike Waltz.

"Russia does not want to rush the issue of the proposed ceasefire, we must first get information from the United States," Peskov said.

The Kremlin also said that contacts were planned in the coming days, during which an agreement on a phone conversation between Putin and Trump could be reached.

The previous day, a statement by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also did not contain any details.

"The main news for us will come from here (from Russia, - ed.). The formation of the position of the Russian Federation is not taking place abroad with the help of certain agreements or efforts of some parties. The formation of the position of the Russian Federation is taking place within the Russian Federation," she said in response to a question about the talks between the United States and Ukraine.

Zakharova also confirmed that a meeting between representatives of the Kremlin and the White House will probably take place in the near future.

Vice-President of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation Konstantin Kosachev said that Russia will accept the agreements only on its own terms.

"The conditions are American, not Ukrainian. Ukrainians agree with what they are told... Russia is making progress, so it will be different with Russia. Any agreements (with all the understanding of the need for compromises) are under our conditions, not American. And this is not bragging, but the understanding that the real agreements are still written there, on the front. This should be understood in Washington as well," he told TASS.

The head of the parliament of the annexed Crimea, Volodymyr Konstantinov, generally stated that it is the Russian Federation that should receive "security guarantees".

"Peace will come only when Russia receives reliable security guarantees. And the sooner US President Trump realizes this, the closer he will be to fulfilling his promise of quick peace," Konstantinov stressed.

Some politicians in the Russian Federation directly stated that the agreements reached during the negotiations in Jeddah were unacceptable to Moscow.

In particular, the deputy of the State Duma from the Communist Party, member of the defense committee Viktor Sobolev, said that a truce of 30 days is not useful for Russia, because during this time the Ukrainian army will supposedly be able to regroup, strengthen its troops and get additional weapons.

"This only benefits Ukrainians... We don't need it at all," he told reporters.

So-called Z-bloggers and Russian military personnel have also reacted strongly negatively to the potential truce.

For example, VDTRK correspondent Aleksandar Sladkov wrote that he does not believe in respecting the terms of the ceasefire.

"Personally, I don't remember the ceasefire that Ukraine respected. Today, Kiev and its Western leaders are saying that Russia didn't respect the ceasefire in Donbas - that's sick nonsense... I will be very, very unpleasantly surprised if the ceasefire is reached without our victory," he wrote on his Telegram channel.

Aleksandar Koc, editor of Kosomolska Pravda, believes that it is unprofitable for the Russian Federation to introduce a ceasefire during a successful offensive in the Kursk region. In his opinion, during the one-month break, Ukraine will accumulate weapons and continue the war.

"In other words, they (the US) reopen the flow of weapons and intelligence. Ukraine collects it all within a month. And then Russia is to blame for the continuation of the war?", he asks.

 

Telegram channel "War Informer" (613 thousand subscribers) directly calls the possible agreement of the Kremlin to a truce "foolishness".

 

"This proposal is nothing more than a conditional "Minsk-3" with a ceasefire along the line of contact without guarantees of an end to the conflict, but with the continuation of the arming of Ukraine by Europe and the USA. Therefore, agreeing to a similar ceasefire suspended in the air with a long-term arming of the enemy, but without putting pressure on him on the ground and in the air, would be stupidity for the highest military leader of Russia." The negotiations in Jeddah coincided with the successful offensive operation of the Russians in the Kursk region. In less than a week, the Russian army managed to almost completely eliminate the bridgehead of the armed forces in this area. Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the Kursk territory "a very strong trump card" in negotiations with Russia. The Kremlin, for its part, ruled out holding any peace talks until the complete withdrawal of the Ukrainian garrison from the Kursk region.