News that the Government of Ukraine has agreed to an immediate 30-day ceasefire plan put forward by the U.S., if Russia also accepts the deal, was not enough to lift the U.S. stock market.
“Ukraine is ready to start talking and stop shooting,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a news conference in Saudi Arabia where peace talks have been taking place. The plan would see the U.S. immediately lift its pause on sharing intelligence with Ukraine, and will resume military and humanitarian aid to that country.
The agreement comes after seven hours of negotiations held on March 11 in Jedda, Saudi Arabia between high-level American and Ukrainian officials. The ceasefire deal also comes about 10 days after a public dust-up in the White House between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that upended the peace process and led America to withdraw its support to the country.
While the news that Ukraine has accepted a ceasefire was cheered in political and diplomatic circles, it was not enough to lift U.S. equity markets, which ended the day in the red yet again. All three of the major U.S. indices ended the trading session down, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average falling more than 450 points on the day, and the benchmark S&P 500 index closing down 0.75%.
Positive Development
“Today, we made an offer that the Ukrainians have accepted, which is to enter into a ceasefire and into immediate negotiations to end this conflict in a way that’s enduring and sustainable and accounts for their interests, their security, their ability to prosper as a nation,” said Rubio, adding that, “Hopefully we’ll take this offer now to the Russians, and we hope that they’ll say yes, that they’ll say yes to peace.”
It is not known if Russia will accept the proposed 30-day ceasefire and enter into peace talks with Ukraine following three years of war between the countries. In recent days, President Trump has threatened to ratchet up sanctions on Russia in an effort to get that country to entertain steps aimed at ending the war.
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