As US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says, “the ball is now in Russia’s court.” This is a significant moment.
The joint statement from the US and Ukraine, after a long day of talks in Jeddah, contains several key lines, perhaps none more important than this: “The United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace.”
We’ve heard a lot, in recent weeks, about what Donald Trump expects from Ukraine and what sort of blunt instruments the White House is prepared to use to bend Kyiv to its will.
Now, it seems, it’s time for Russia’s intentions to be tested, in public.
Trump’s dealings with Vladimir Putin have so far been shrouded in uncertainty, with no obvious sign of pressure to balance that being exerted on Volodymyr Zelensky.
Tuesday’s joint US-Ukrainian statement doesn’t imply that Trump has suddenly changed his tune towards Zelensky. Theirs is a thorny relationship, born of many years of mutual mistrust.
But the ugly cloud of acrimony generated by that fractious Oval Office encounter 11 days ago may start to dissipate as the real business of peace-making gets under way.
With the immediate resumption of US intelligence sharing and security assistance to Ukraine, after a suspension that lasted mere days, it’s Russia that may now be feeling the pressure.
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