LAST UPDATE | 12 Mar 2025

US SECRETARY OF State Marco Rubio has said that European allies need to be involved in any eventual deal on Ukraine.

“I think that they have to be necessarily involved,” Rubio told reporters on a refuelling stop in Shannon Airport, noting that Russia would seek removal of European sanctions imposed on it since the start of the war.

He arrived in Shannon on a flight from Saudi Arabia where there was a US-Ukraine meeting, and will soon fly to Quebec for a meeting of the G7 foreign ministers.

It comes as European military powers are to meet in Paris to advance peace talks for Ukraine, after it endorsed a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire.

Rubio told reporters in Shannon that “there is no military solution” to the Russia and Ukraine conflict and that negotiation has to start. 

For that, “the bullets need to stop,” said Rubio.

He said there will be “multiple points of contact with the Russians to see if they will engage with this” and that the conversation with Ukraine centred on “what a negotiation process would look like”. 

Rubio also said that it’s “not just about ending the war” for Ukraine.

“They need to get the prisoners of war and the children back,” said Rubio.

“There are areas of Ukraine that have been badly damaged that require immediate assistance, so these are the types of things that we talked about.

“Ukraine wants their long-term security, we all do. What is the point in spending all this time to get a ceasefire hopefully, ending the war, only to see it respark up again.

“No one is interested in that.”

He added that Ukraine has a “right to defend themselves” and requires a deterrent to future Russian aggression. 

“How that deterrent looks, that’s what we’re talking about,” said Rubio.

Meanwhile, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy today said that “everything depends on whether Russia wants a ceasefire and silence, or it wants to continue killing people”.

He told a press conference today:”Ukraine has demonstrated its position… and today Russia has to respond to this.”

Zelenskyy added that Ukraine can talk about security guarantees “in more detail if there is a ceasefire for 30 days”.

“These 30 days are meant to be put on paper… the steps we’ve agreed on with allies and the format of the security guarantees that will be in place in Ukraine after the end of the war.”

Zelenskyy also warned that he has no “trust” in Russia and that he expects “strong steps” from the US if Russia rejects the proposal for a 30-day ceasefire.

‘Fair peace’

Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who is in Washington D.C. for the shamrock ceremony ahead of St Patrick’s Day, has emphasised the importance of achieving a “fair peace” for Ukraine.

“The enormity of this war cannot be understated. Hundreds and hundreds of thousands of young people have been killed. It’s had a devastating impact on the people of Ukraine, and on the civilian infrastructure,” he said.

The latest talks, Martin said, demonstrate “the beginning of momentum” for peace, but it wil depend on Russia’s response.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hailed Ukraine’s backing for the American ceasefire proposal as a “remarkable breakthrough”.

The US also announced it would immediately lift its suspension of military aid to Ukraine and its intelligence sharing with Kyiv, following the talks between the two nations held in Saudi Arabia.

“The ball is now in the Russian court,” Starmer said.

🗣️ ‘Hopefully Putin will agree to ceasefire.'

Donald Trump says he thinks he will talk to Vladimir Putin this week, but warned "it takes two to tango", with regards to Russia agreeing to a ceasefire in Ukraine.https://t.co/Av2TSbztra pic.twitter.com/GVO0JiLp1c

— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 11, 2025

Responding this morning, the Kremlin said it was waiting for the US to inform it about the details of a proposed ceasefire in Ukraine that Kyiv agreed to after talks in Saudi Arabia.

Asked if Moscow would agree to a ceasefire, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters they were “running ahead of yourselves” in coverage.

“We have planned contacts with the Americans in the coming days,” Peskov said, adding that during these communications the Kremlin intends to get “the whole information” on the ceasefire deal.

Peskov also did not “rule out” a “high-level” phone call with the US and that Moscow was “attentively studying all the statements” made in Jeddah.

Moscow has previously said it would not agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine, arguing it would give Kyiv the opportunity to re-arm.

Trump hopes for ceasefire ‘in the next few days’

US President Donald Trump said “it takes two to tango”, but that if Russia agrees to the ceasefire, “that’ll be 75% of the way” to peace. “The rest is getting it documented and negotiating land.

He hopes for a total ceasefire “in the next few days”.

Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who also backs the US proposal, said the next steps are “up to Putin”. 

The talks in Paris today will be attended by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Poland.

Speaking more about the developments, the Taoiseach pointed to Ireland’s history of conflict and our successful peace deal.

“I  can recall, at the beginning of our own peace process there was a lot of skepticism and criticism of people who took initiatives at that time.

“There’s never an ideal moment to launch a peace initiative, and I would pay tribute to President Trump for his unrelenting focus on peace, both in Ukraine and in the Middle East.

“There’s still a journey to travel, but I think momentum is clearly picking up now as a result of the outcome of the talks today, and hopefully that can progress into more substantive discussions.”

Trump also said American and Russian officials would meet “later on today and tomorrow” to discuss the deal, adding: “If we can get Russia to do it, that’ll be great. If we can’t, we just keep going on and people are going to get killed, lots of people.”