US resumes aid to Kyiv as Russia kill five in Ukraine amid truce prospects

jeddah: Russian ballistic missiles killed at least five civilians in Ukraine, officials said Wednesday, a day after the Trump administration lifted its suspension of military aid for Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s invasion and Ukrainian officials signalled they were open to a 30-day ceasefire.

The Kremlin didn’t comment on the agreement announced Tuesday between the US and Ukraine on the provision of further military support, including intelligence sharing, and the possibility of a ceasefire that Washington backs. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that it’s important not to “get ahead” of the question of responding to the 30-day ceasefire proposal. He told reporters that Moscow is awaiting “detailed information” about it from the US and suggested Russia must get that before it can take a position.

The Russian missiles killed four Syrian men between the ages of 18 and 24 on a ship docked at the southern port of Odesa late Tuesday, where it was loading Ukrainian wheat for Algeria, Infrastructure Minister Oleksii Kuleba said.

Another missile killed a woman in Kryvih Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown in central Ukraine, authorities said.

The American help is vital for Ukraine’s shorthanded and weary army, which is having a tough time keeping Russia’s bigger military force at bay. But for Moscow, more American aid spells potentially more difficulty in achieving its war aims and likely will be a tough sell in Moscow for Washington’s peace efforts.

Arms deliveries to Ukraine have already resumed through a Polish logistics centre, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Poland announced Wednesday.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Washington will pursue “multiple points of contacts” with Russia to see if President Vladimir Putin is ready to negotiate an end to the war. He declined to give details.

“The ball is truly in their court,” Rubio said at a refueling stopover in Shannon, Ireland on his way to talks in Canada with other Group of Seven leading industrialised nations.

Rubio said he hoped to see Russia stop attacks on Ukraine within the next few days as a first step. “We don’t think it’s constructive to stand here today and say what we’re going to do if Russia says no,” Rubio said, adding he wanted to avoid statements about Russia that “are abrasive in any way.”

His comments came amid intensifying Russian effort to push Ukrainian forces out of its Kursk region that has yielded breakthroughs in recent days, Ukrainian soldiers said. The fighting has escalated as ceasefire talks come to a head, with Moscow intent on taking back its territory and Kyiv determined to hold onto it as a bargaining chip.