Washington drops plans for new sanctions against Russia

The United States expects Russia to present a ceasefire proposal for Ukraine "in the coming days," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of "trying to buy time." Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has consistently rejected the 30-day truce proposals put forward by Kyiv and its Western allies.

However, Mr Rubio said on Tuesday that Mr Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had indicated that "they would present their own conditions for a ceasefire, perhaps in a few days, perhaps this week".

Elsewhere, Marco Rubio ruled out the immediate imposition of further sanctions on Russia, stating that additional pressure could affect peace talks with Ukraine, on the same day the European Union announced a new package of punitive measures against Moscow.

Mr Rubio told a Senate committee that President Donald Trump "believes that if he starts threatening sanctions, the Russians will stop talking and that it's valuable to be able to talk to them and persuade them to come to the negotiating table".

(MH with FM - Source: Agency - Photo: © Unsplash)