The Daily Populous Wednesday March 12nd, 2025 night edition
Authored by bbc.com and submitted by IMSLI

Ukraine makes strides with ceasefire proposal, as world awaits Russia's response

Talks between the US and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia seem to have been fruitful, with a 30-day ceasefire proposal on the table that has been accepted by Zelensky and his officials.

As US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says: "The ball is now in Russia's court."

It remains unclear how Russia will respond, as the Kremlin says it will make a statement once it has been briefed by Washington. The BBC understands that US envoy Steve Witkoff may visit Moscow later this week.

Zelensky says Ukraine is "ready to take this step" towards peace, as his deputy head confirms that security assistance from the US has been restored.

In Washington, US President Donald Trump says he is open to inviting Zelensky back to the White House, following their fiery clash less than a fortnight ago - that sparked international concern over the US-Ukraine relationship.

As the talks continue, so does the war. Overnight, a "massive" Ukrainian drone attack, believed to be the largest ever on Moscow and the capital region, killed three people.

Meanwhile, the regional head of Dnipro, in the east of Ukraine, says there has been a large-scale drone attack on the region on Tuesday. Earlier, we reported that children were among six dead in Russian attacks in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, according to local authorities.

The next steps in the offer of a temporary ceasefire are so far uncertain and, as BBC's Vitaliy Shevchenko writes: "The Ukrainians may be relieved now, but they are by no means out of the woods."

We're now closing our live coverage for today, thanks for joining us.

lab-gone-wrong on March 11st, 2025 at 18:37 UTC »

> Marco Rubio is asked if they are accepting any good-will gestures from Russia or if there is a deadline.

> Rubio says "Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking."

> He reiterates that he hopes Russia will say yes to the ceasefire, but if they say no "then we'll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here".

If you didn't already know that the impediment to peace is the guy who started the invasion............

Darromear on March 11st, 2025 at 18:25 UTC »

So he basically got hundreds of Ukrainians killed for nothing

omicronwarrior on March 11st, 2025 at 18:19 UTC »

Forgot to add asterisk, *with terms and conditions applied.