Patterico's Pontifications

3/11/2025

Zelensky Accepts 30-Day Ceasefire Plan

Filed under: General — Dana @ 2:31 pm



[guest post by Dana]

Per CNN:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that Ukraine had accepted a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States, following critical peace talks between US and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia.

The ceasefire proposal accepted by Ukraine covers the entire front line of the fighting with Russia, not just the air and sea, Zelensky said after the more than eight-hour long meeting.

“Ukraine accepts this proposal, we consider it positive, we are ready to take such a step, and the United States of America must convince Russia to do so,” Zelensky said, adding that the ceasefire would start the moment Moscow agrees to it.

The United States said in a joint statement with Ukraine following the meeting in Jeddah that it would “immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said immediately after the meeting that the onus is now on Russia to take steps to end the war. “We hope that they’ll say yes, that they’ll say yes to peace. The ball is now in their court,” he said of the Russians.

Again, the only step Russia needs to take to end the war is to stop dropping bombs on Ukraine, leave the country, including all the occupied territories, and never return. Clearly, Russia could’ve done this at any time. That they have chosen not to in three years, informs us, without any doubt, that they do not want to end the war.

Why would anyone believe that Russia, if they agree to the deal, would honor the ceasefire agreement and not break yet another one? If you think they would adhere to a ceasefire agreement, what evidence of good faith from Russia do you base that view upon?

I’m afraid that, although Trump says the onus is now on Russia, he will direct his team to pressure Zelensky to give in to any demand that Russia makes. It will be the victim of a neighboring bully that will have to surrender if they want the war to end. It will not be the vile bully who started this war by an illegal invasion into Ukraine, who will have to make concessions. But a ceasefire will give Russia time to regroup.

—Dana

21 Responses to “Zelensky Accepts 30-Day Ceasefire Plan”

  1. Hello.

    Dana (59441b) — 3/11/2025 @ 2:31 pm

  2. Sad. Revenge is a dish best eaten cold. Kleons.

    asset (f813de) — 3/11/2025 @ 4:15 pm

  3. “Peace for our time.”

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/11/2025 @ 4:15 pm

  4. There is no world in which Russia leaves the territories they’ve already conquered. That said, how do we deal with the world as it is, nit as we wish it would be.

    NJRob (eb56c3) — 3/11/2025 @ 6:20 pm

  5. From the Open Thread (h/t Rip Murdock):

    The Trump administration said it would immediately lift a pause on intelligence sharing and military support to Ukraine, as Kyiv agreed to implement a 30-day cease-fire in top level talks with U.S. officials.

    If I were Ukraine, at this point, I wouldn’t trust “the Trump administration” to give me anything except syphilis.

    False intelligence that would lead Ukrainian forces into Russian traps; faulty weapons that would fail in battle; dud munitions.

    Come to think of it, I am not Ukraine, and I do not trust the Trump administration to giv … ah, what’s the use?

    nk (f9124f) — 3/11/2025 @ 6:28 pm

  6. nk #5

    I think you can trust the Trump administration to give you measles and rotten teeth.

    Appalled (d7681e) — 3/12/2025 @ 8:20 am

  7. I think you can trust the Trump administration to give you measles and rotten teeth.

    And castor oil.

    Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/12/2025 @ 11:04 am

  8. There is no world in which Russia leaves the territories they’ve already conquered.

    Not so. They left quite a bit of territory in the late 80’s. It just took moral resolve, a mighty alliance and Ronald Reagan.

    Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/12/2025 @ 11:05 am

  9. It’s only 30 days but the “pause” on military aid to Ukraine has ended, a good thing, and Zelenskyy sent a message that he’s willing to negotiate.

    So far, there are no demands or concessions for Russia, except that they stop invading for a month.

    I share your concern, Dana, that some asshole like Lavrov will say the ceasefire is unacceptable unless the US and Ukraine agree to a list of their bullsh-t demands that further weaken Ukraine and give Putin the upper hand.
    My further concern is that Trump will agree to Putin’s demands, because this president is a full-blown pizda when it comes to Putin.

    Paul Montagu (354e09) — 3/12/2025 @ 11:18 am

  10. Since Trump’s primary objective is receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, we need to ask if this helps his cause.

    John Boddie (dcf99c) — 3/12/2025 @ 12:15 pm

  11. There is no world in which Russia leaves the territories they’ve already conquered.

    Not so. They left quite a bit of territory in the late 80’s. It just took moral resolve, a mighty alliance and Ronald Reagan.

    Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/12/2025 @ 11:05 am

    All of which is lacking now.

    Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 3/12/2025 @ 12:52 pm

  12. Here’s a stronger case for deporting a terrorist supporter, and her name is Helyeh Doutaghi, for being “a member of Samidoun, an organization sanctioned by the U.S. government in October in an announcement that described it as a “sham charity” and a “front organization” for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a foreign-designated terrorist organization.”

    The smart thing for her is to GFTO of the US because ICE detains her and kicks her out. If there’s one possible benefit to Trump trying to deport Mr. Khalil, it’s forcing the pointy heads in academia to clean house.

    Helyeh Doutaghi, a scholar in international law, began a new job in 2023 as the deputy director of a project at Yale Law School.

    As an activist who had championed pro-Palestinian causes in both published papers and public appearances, Dr. Doutaghi seemed to fit into the left-leaning mission of the Law and Political Economy Project, which promoted itself as working for “economic, racial and gender equality.”

    Last week, though, she was abruptly barred from Yale’s campus in New Haven, Conn., and placed on administrative leave. She was told not to advertise her affiliation with the university, where she had also served as an associate research scholar.

    Yale officials cited the reason as allegations that she was tied to entities subject to U.S. sanctions.

    Paul Montagu (354e09) — 3/12/2025 @ 1:11 pm

  13. …GTFO of the US before ICE detains her…

    Paul Montagu (354e09) — 3/12/2025 @ 1:12 pm

  14. Oops, wrong thread.

    But this involves Russia, the story about the cargo ship in the North Sea crashing into a tanker containing jet fuel for the US military.

    London (CNN) — The captain of the Solong cargo ship who was arrested after crashing into a US-flagged tanker off the English coast is a Russian national, the vessel’s owner said Wednesday, as maritime experts search for answers.

    The Solong careered into the Stena Immaculate while it was at anchor in the North Sea and carrying huge amounts of jet fuel for the US military, setting fire to both vessels and prompting emergency rescue efforts by the British coastguard.

    British police have since opened a criminal investigation into the crash and arrested a 59-year-old man on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.

    A spokesperson for Ernst Russ, which owns the Solong, confirmed to CNN that the arrested man is the ship’s captain and that he is a Russian national.

    The rest of the crew are a mix of Russians and Filipinos, the spokesperson added.

    Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the nearby Port of Grimsby East, had expressed disbelief that such a crash could have happened, given the sophistication of modern shipping technology.

    Given his nationality, there could be another reason: Lots of vodka.

    Paul Montagu (354e09) — 3/12/2025 @ 1:26 pm

  15. American journalist JP Lindsley has embedded in Ukraine for the last three years. He’s not optimistic about the outcome for Ukraine but his observations about the Ukrainian people are something else, starting with this…

    Stuff MAGA will learn: Ukraine is the most Christian country in Europe. It’s so Christian that there aren’t big arguments about secularism. Religion is just naturally there, part of life, despite 100 yers of Soviet attempts to try to eradicate it.

    …and this…

    Here’s why the global elite, including Biden, hate and actually fear Ukraine—and why they’ve quietly prevented Ukraine from winning 🧵[1] ⤵️

    [2] ⤵️ The Elites Fear Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution

    From Macron to Scholz, the global elite don’t want their own citizens engaging in a people-powered uprising like Maidan.

    – Hong Kong protesters, before Beijing shut them down forever, once waved Ukrainian flags, showing how far Maidan’s influence spread.

    – Elites push the narrative that “Victoria Nuland created Maidan” in order to undermine the idea that the actual people can overthrow a deep state regime.

    – Biden, Scholz, Macron, and others talk about Ukraine’s sovereignty but rarely its freedom—they prefer top-down control over genuine grassroots power, and they tremble to think of peaceful revolutions.

    [3] ⤵️ Deeply Rooted Traditions

    Ukraine is “based” in lived traditions.

    – Ukrainians preserve old-world community bonds, exemplified by how deeply they celebrate Christmas and Easter.

    – These tight-knit communities are hard for elites to manipulate—Ukrainians refuse to be what @GiorgiaMeloni calls “corporatized atoms.”

    Paul Montagu (354e09) — 3/12/2025 @ 2:28 pm

  16. Here’s the FSB plan for “peace”.

    Russia should work to weaken the U.S. negotiating position on Ukraine by stoking tensions between the Trump administration and other countries while pushing ahead with Moscow’s efforts to dismantle the Ukrainian state, according to a document prepared for the Kremlin.

    The document, written in February by an influential Moscow-based think tank close to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), lays out Russia’s maximalist demands for any end to the conflict in Ukraine. It dismisses President Donald Trump’s preliminary plans for a peace deal within 100 days as “impossible to realize” and says that “a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine crisis cannot happen before 2026.”

    The document also rejects any plan to dispatch peacekeepers to Ukraine, as some in Europe have proposed, and insists on recognition of Russia’s sovereignty over the Ukrainian territories it has seized. It also calls for a further carve-up through the creation of a buffer zone in Ukraine’s northeast on the border with Russian regions such as Bryansk and Belgorod, as well as a demilitarized zone in southern Ukraine near Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. The latter would affect the Odessa region.

    In addition, the document discusses the need for “the complete dismantling” of the current Ukrainian government.
    […]
    Russia is “not interested in an early resolution of the Ukraine crisis,” said Thomas Graham, a senior director for Russia at the National Security Council under George W. Bush and now a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “They consistently talk about the root causes, which, as you know, are about the domestic politics in Ukraine, and even more important than that, the European security architecture, which would be the role of NATO. And a simple ceasefire which doesn’t take that into account is of no interest to Russia. And Trump doesn’t appear to understand.”

    Paul Montagu (354e09) — 3/12/2025 @ 3:11 pm

  17. No, they should be treated as POWs, you f-cking war criminal, under the Geneva Conventions that your sheethole country signed…

    Sounds like a call for more war crimes. “Putin said the captured fighters should be “treated as terrorists, in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation,” Agence-France-Presse reports.”

    What exactly will this 30-day ceasefire accomplish with this evil mentality?

    Paul Montagu (354e09) — 3/12/2025 @ 9:59 pm

  18. Given his nationality, there could be another reason: Lots of vodka.

    Or another reason: intention

    Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/12/2025 @ 10:03 pm

  19. What exactly will this 30-day ceasefire accomplish with this evil mentality?

    Maybe it will force Trump to take off his blinders and realize that there are some people you cannot negotiate with.

    Kevin M (a9545f) — 3/12/2025 @ 10:06 pm

  20. Putin did make a conscious choice…

    Putin wearing a military uniform for the first time since the start of the invasion should give you an indication of just how ”committed to peace” Russia is and the odds of them accepting the ceasefire.

    Paul Montagu (354e09) — 3/12/2025 @ 10:54 pm

  21. A senior Putin aide says nyet to a ceasefire.

    A Russian negotiator dismissed a U.S.-brokered proposal for a cease-fire in Ukraine, as the Kremlin said its forces were in the final stages of ousting Ukraine’s army from Russia’s Kursk region.

    Yuri Ushakov, a senior aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the 30-day cease-fire would allow Ukraine’s forces time to regroup.

    “This is nothing other than a temporary time-out for Ukrainian soldiers, nothing more. Our goal is a long-term peaceful resolution,” he told Russian state television on Thursday. “Steps that imitate peaceful actions are not needed.”

    I actually agree with this apparatchik on the ceasefire, but we differ on the kind of “long-term peaceful resolution”.

    Paul Montagu (354e09) — 3/13/2025 @ 6:17 am

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