Leaders| Ukraine and Russia
Will Vladimir Putin really agree to stop his killing machine?
The offer of a ceasefire creates a dilemma for the Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, March 11th 2025
Photograph: AP
THE BALL, so America’s secretary of state said on March 11th, is back in Vladimir Putin’s court. Ukraine had just agreed at talks in Jeddah to an American plan for a month-long ceasefire, and in return America has already restarted the flow of weapons and information that Donald Trump cut off following his spectacular Oval Office shouting match with Volodymyr Zelensky 11 days earlier. For once, it is Mr Putin who has a fateful decision to make. It is not clear how far America is prepared to go to ensure he comes to the right conclusion.