Rubio and Waltz headed back to Mideast for talks on Ukraine ceasefire — Witkoff

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz will head back to Saudi Arabia next week for talks on a ceasefire in Russia’s war with Ukraine, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff tells Fox News.

Speaking hours after Trump held a lengthy phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Witkoff says talks on a ceasefire deal “will begin on Sunday in Jeddah.”

Referring to a ceasefire on energy infrastructure and targets in the Black Sea, Witkoff says, “I think both of those are now agreed to by the Russians. I am certainly hopeful that the Ukrainians will agree to it.”

He adds that “it’s a relatively short distance to a full ceasefire from there.”

Ukraine on Wednesday accused Russia of effectively rejecting the US-backed ceasefire proposal, reporting a barrage of strikes on civilian infrastructure hours after Moscow agreed only to pause attacks on the energy grid.

Russia says a Ukrainian drone attack caused a small fire overnight at an oil depot located near the village of Kavkazskaya in the Krasnodar region

In a 90-minute call with Trump on Tuesday, Russian President Putin refused a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire. According to the Kremlin, Putin has already ordered his military to pause strikes against Ukrainian energy targets for 30 days.

Witkoff, however, reiterates that the proposed ceasefire included “energy and infrastructure in general.”

He commends Russian President Putin “for all he did today on that call to move his country close to a final peace deal.”