U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman applauded President Donald Trump and his staff for arranging a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine on Tuesday. Now, all that’s remaining is a commitment from Russia to play ball.
“President Trump prioritized ending the war in Ukraine, and Ukraine's agreement to the ceasefire terms is the most promising step towards peace so far,” Hageman told Cowboy State Daily. “Hopefully, we will see an end to this conflict soon.”
Sen. John Barrasso agreed and said the ball is now in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s court.
“President Trump proved today he is the best chance for peace between Ukraine and Russia,” Barrasso said. “The killing and bloodshed needs to end as soon as possible. This ceasefire is a vital and serious first step to securing a path to lasting peace. The ball is now in Putin’s court. Russia must agree to this deal.”
U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis couldn’t be reached for reaction by the time this story was published.
Ukraine agreed on Tuesday to an immediate 30-day ceasefire that was negotiated by the United States, if Russia accepts the plan, officials said in a joint statement.
“Ukraine is ready to start talking and stop shooting,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio, after the parties met in Saudi Arabia.
The U.S. will convey to Russia that reciprocity from Russia is key to achieving peace, the statement said.
The agreement came after more than seven hours of negotiations between the American and Ukrainian delegations.
Since Trump’s election, Russia has shifted much more in line with the United States on foreign policy issues. Rubio said the ball is now in the Kremlin’s court.
“And 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,” he said.
If Russia accepts the deal, it would be the first ceasefire agreed to in the war since it started in 2022.
Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have agreed to conclude “as soon as possible a comprehensive agreement for developing Ukraine’s critical mineral resources,” officials said.
As part of the plan, America will immediately lift its pause on sharing intelligence with Ukraine and will resume providing security assistance to the country.
The two delegations “also discussed the importance of humanitarian relief efforts as part of the peace process, particularly during the above-mentioned ceasefire, including the exchange of prisoners of war, the release of civilian detainees, and the return of forcibly transferred Ukrainian children,” the statement says.
Wyoming Reacts
Cody resident Nick Piazza, who runs a business in Ukraine and has actively lobbied for the country after Russia started the war in 2022, sees the ceasefire as a positive turn of events.
“This puts some weight on Russia to follow it,” he said. “If not, we’ll see who they are. I don’t have a ton of hope.”
State Sen. Brian Boner, R-Douglas, who studied abroad in Russia in college and worked with Russian troops as an active-duty nuclear crew commander in the Air Force, said the agreement is a “major victory,” but that the “devil’s in the details as far as what peace looks like.”
“They’re (Russia) a second-world country pretending to be a superpower,” Boner said. “The fact that they have not taken over Ukraine yet has proven that. They’re (Russia) a dying country demographically speaking.”
Boner said there’s a strategic bomber base that was across a river from where he was studying in college that’s been hit significantly by Ukrainian forces during the war.
Piazza said as far as he can tell, the agreement freezes all territory seized based on where the conflict stands right now. What that means is Russia would get to keep all of the territory it seized since 2014, including the Crimean Peninsula.
‘Proof In The Pudding’
The high-stakes talks in Saudi Arabia were the first between top U.S. officials and Ukrainian leadership since Zelenskyy clashed with Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance on Feb. 28.
This spat caused Trump to halt U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine, which Piazza said had a significant effect on the country. Since that foiled meeting, Ukraine has been desperately trying to shore up relations between the two countries.
“There’s been a back and forth,” Piazza said. “But the proof is in the putting. They got something signed.”
According to Politico, Ukraine has long ruled out any ceasefire agreement that includes giving up land occupied by Russia, which Russian President Vladimir Putin seized in 2014. The Ukrainian government has called for a “just peace” that would include having the Kremlin pay reparations for the three-year war.
Piazza, who hasn’t been back to Ukraine yet this year but communicates with his employees there on a daily basis, said drone and bomb strikes have only increased since Trump has taken office.
“Everybody is asking for peace and a chance to improve their country,” he said.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
