Russia responds to a Ukraine-U.S. ceasefire plan shaped in Jeddah. Supplies of U.S. military aid to Ukraine “return to previous levels,” the Polish foreign minister says. Russia begins an assault on a key Ukraine-held town in the Kursk region, ISW says.
Russia responds to Ukraine-U.S. ceasefire plan shaped in Jeddah
Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that Moscow would not be pushed into action after the latest Ukraine-U.S. talks in Saudi Arabia and would make its own decisions about the war in Ukraine.
Russia’s position would not be determined “abroad due to some agreements or efforts of some parties,” Zakharova told the state-run Radio Sputnik station. “The establishment of the position of the Russian Federation happens within the Russian Federation,” she said, adding that “the main news for us will come from here.”
Ukraine said it was ready to accept an immediate 30-day ceasefire if Russia does so too following the talks between U.S. and Ukrainian officials in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Tuesday.
In his nightly address Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that the ceasefire proposal was “not only concerning rockets, drones, and bombs, not only in the Black Sea, but also along the entire front line.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a press conference in Jeddah late on Tuesday that the U.S. would now take the offer to Russia.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin considers the deal to be a “trap” and is unlikely to accept without further guarantees because Russia is currently advancing on the battlefield.
A senior Russian source told Reuters that Putin would find it hard to agree to the ceasefire idea without hashing out terms and getting some sort of guarantees.
“Putin has a strong position because Russia is advancing,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, told Reuters.
Without guarantees alongside a ceasefire, Russia’s position could swiftly become weaker and that Russia could then be blamed by the West for failing to end the war, they added.
Supplies of U.S. military aid to Ukraine “return to previous levels,” Polish foreign minister says
Supplies of U.S. military aid to Ukraine through Poland have resumed, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on Wednesday. Sikorski was speaking to reporters alongside his Ukrainian counterpart, Andriy Sybiha, in Warsaw, as the latter returned from the talks in Jeddah on March 12.
“I can confirm that arms deliveries via Jasionka have returned to previous levels,” Sikorski said, referring to a logistics hub in Poland.
Sikorski said he had consulted with Sybiha ahead of the Ukraine-U.S. talks in Saudi Arabia. He said the conversation was preceded by a call with U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg.
“We are satisfied with these new proposals and ideas to prevent Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” the Polish foreign minister said as cited by Poland’s RMF24 news site.
Sybiha said that resumed supplies of arms from the United States were an “important outcome” of the meeting in Jeddah. He hailed the move as a crucial one for Ukraine’s defense.
Russia begins assault on key Ukraine-held town in Kursk region, ISW says
Russian forces have begun a fresh assault on the town of Sudzha held by Ukraine in the Kursk region, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) confirmed in a report Tuesday.
Russian forces continued attacking within Sudzha itself; north of Sudzha near Kazachya Loknya, Yuzhny, Kubatkino, and Ivashkovsky; and near the international border in Sumy Oblast near Zhuravka, ISW said. The paragraphs below are quoted from the report.
Geolocated footage published on March 11 indicates that Russian forces recently seized Bondarevka (east of Sudzha), Zamostye, and Makhnovka (both southeast of Sudzha).
Additional geolocated footage published on March 10 and 11 indicates that Russian forces recently advanced into central Zazulevka (north of Sudzha), in the southeastern outskirts of Kolmakov (southeast of Sudzha), and south of Kurilovka (south of Sudzha).
Russian milbloggers claimed on March 11 that Russian forces seized Kazachya Loknya (north of Sudzha), and recent Russian gains north of Kazachya Loknya and east of Sudzha have likely forced Ukrainian forces to withdraw from Kazachya Loknya and Knyazhiy 2 (north of Sudzha and immediately south of Kazachya Loknya).
Russian milbloggers claimed that Russian forces seized Kolmakov and Dmitryukov (both southeast of Sudzha) and advanced east of Sverdlikovo along the 38K-030 Koronevo-Sudzha highway.
They also claimed that elements of the Russian 22nd Motorized Rifle Regiment (72nd Motorized Rifle Division, 44th Army Corps [AC], Leningrad Military District [LMD]) and 155th Naval Infantry Brigade (Pacific Fleet) seized Knyazhiy 1 (north of Sudzha).
Russian forces have reportedly advanced to the outskirts of Zaoloshenka (just north of Sudzha) and that elements of the Russian 11th Airborne (VDV) Brigade are advancing into Sudzha itself from Mirny (east of Sudzha).
