U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio made this statement while speaking to journalists after meetings with top Ukrainian officials in Jeddah, Ukrinform reports, citing The Guardian.
Rubio did not specify a deadline for Russia to respond to the 30-day interim ceasefire proposal but confirmed that the U.S. would convey the offer.
"Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking, and now it'll be up to them to say yes or no. I hope they're going to say yes. If they do, then I think we've made great progress. If they say no, then we'll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace," Rubio said.
He added that U.S. President Donald "wanted this war to end yesterday" and that he hopes that Russia will accept the ceasefire deal "as soon as possible."
"Our hope is that the Russians will answer yes as quickly as possible, so we can get to the second phase of this, which is real negotiations," he said.
Meanwhile, U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz stressed that the Ukrainian delegation made "very clear" on Tuesday that they "share President Trump's vision for peace." Ukraine "made concrete steps and proposals" including accepting Washington's proposal for a full ceasefire, he said.
Waltz also noted that he would speak to his Russian counterpart "in the coming days" and that Rubio will be with G7 foreign ministers in the next couple of days.
