Trump dispatches envoy to Moscow on Ukraine truce

Zelensky wants US pile pressure on Russia

WASHINGTON:

A US envoy headed for Moscow on Wednesday and President Donald Trump expressed optimism for a 30-day ceasefire in the Ukraine war but officials said the United States wants Russia to agree an unconditional halt to the conflict.

The Kremlin said it was awaiting details of a proposal agreed by Ukrainian and US officials this week, and gave no indication of its readiness to stop fighting that has left tens of thousands dead in the past three years.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country had shown it was ready to embrace a deal, adding that the United States had indicated it would issue a "strong" response if President Vladimir Putin refuses an accord.

"People are going to Russia right now as we speak. And hopefully we can get a ceasefire from Russia," Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with Ireland's prime minister Micheal Martin.

The White House said that Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff, a mediator in the Gaza and Ukraine wars, would be in Moscow this week.

Trump did not say whether he would speak with Putin, but added that there had been "positive messages" from Moscow. "I hope he's going to have a ceasefire."

He said that if fighting could be suspended, "I think that would be 80 percent of the way to getting this horrible bloodbath finished."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington wanted Moscow's agreement with no strings attached. "That's what we want to know -- if they're prepared to do it unconditionally," Rubio said on a plane heading to a G7 meeting in Canada.

"If the response is, 'yes', then we know we've made real progress, and there's a real chance of peace. If their response is 'no', it would be highly unfortunate, and it'll make their intentions clear," he added. Rubio was to give an update on the initiative at the G7 meeting in Charlevoix, Canada.

While the Kremlin made no immediate comment on the US-Ukraine proposal -- which was agreed at a meeting in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday -- the Russian foreign ministry said earlier this month that a temporary ceasefire would be unacceptable.