ZELENSKY: ‘UKRAINE IS READY FOR PEACE’: In a video address to his citizens last night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave his full-throated endorsement to the U.S. proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire that would put the onus on Russia to show it is ready to bring the three-year war to a close. “Ukraine is ready for peace. Russia must also show whether it is ready to end the war – or continue it,” Zelensky said.
“Ukraine’s proposal for this meeting with the Americans consisted of three points: silence in the skies — meaning no missiles, bombs, or long-range drones — and silence at sea,” Zelensky said. “During the discussion, there was a proposal specifically from the American side to immediately take the first step beyond that and try to establish a complete ceasefire for 30 days, not only with regard to missiles, drones, and bombs, not only in the Black Sea, but also along the entire frontline.”
“An important element in today’s discussions is America’s readiness to restore defense assistance to Ukraine and intelligence support. Once the agreements take effect, during these thirty days of silence, we, together with our partners, should have enough time to prepare all the aspects at the level of framework documents to ensure a reliable peace and lasting security guarantees.”
“Ukraine accepts this proposal, we consider it positive, we are ready to take this step … that is, we agree, and if the Russians agree, the silence will take effect at that very moment,” Zelensky said. “An important element in today’s discussions is America’s readiness to restore defense assistance to Ukraine and intelligence support.”
Zelensky made sure to heap praise on President Donald Trump and express thanks for the “constructive nature” of the dialogue with the U.S. “The American side understands our arguments and considers our proposals.”
SAUDI ARABIA AND QATAR EMERGE AS WORLD’S MEDIATORS OF CHOICE
RUBIO: ‘IF THEY SAY NO, WE’LL KNOW’: In a joint statement released after the talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, noted Ukraine’s acceptance of “an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire, which can be extended by mutual agreement of the parties, and which is subject to acceptance and concurrent implementation by the Russian Federation.”
“We’re going to take the offer to them. We’re going to tell them this is what’s on the table. Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking, and now it’ll be up to them to say yes or no,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after the negotiating session. “I hope they’re going to say yes. And if they do, then I think we made great progress. If they say no, then we’ll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here.”
“The ball is now in their court,” he said. “Ukraine has taken a concrete step … We hope the Russians will reciprocate,” Rubio said.
National security adviser Mike Waltz, who was Rubio’s negotiating partner, said U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing would resume immediately. The two sides also announced that Ukraine agreed to conclude “as soon as possible” the mineral rights agreement that Zelensky was supposed to sign on Feb. 28, during his White House visit that went off the rails.
Asked if the relationship between Trump and Zelensky is now “back on track,” Rubio replied, “What’s back on track here hopefully is peace. That’s what matters the most. This is not Mean Girls. This is not some episode of some television show. This is very serious. Today, people will die in this war. They died yesterday. And sadly, unless there’s a ceasefire tonight, they’ll die tomorrow. The President wants that to stop.”
US STRIKES DEAL WITH UKRAINE FOR CEASEFIRE, SAYS THE ‘BALL’ IS NOW IN RUSSIA’S ‘COURT’
PUTIN: ‘WE DO NOT NEED A TRUCE’: At a White House event, where he was inspecting Teslas for possible purchase, Trump said he planned to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin soon to “work out a deal.”
“Now we have to go to Russia, and hopefully President Putin will agree,” Trump said. “I think the ceasefire is very important. If we can get Russia to do it, that’ll be great. If we can’t, we just keep going on, and people are going to get killed, lots of people … Every week, 2-3-4,000 sometimes. I get the reports. And they’re not American soldiers. They’re Ukrainian, and they’re Russian.”
Meanwhile, there has been no official reaction from the Kremlin. However, Putin has been on record insisting only his maximalist demands — including the exclusion of Ukraine from NATO, curtailing its military power, and barring peacekeepers from NATO countries from Ukrainian soil — will end the war. “We do not need a truce,” he said in December. “We need peace, a long-term and lasting peace.”
Bloomberg is reporting this morning that Putin “has no intention to compromise on demands on land, peacekeepers and Ukraine’s neutrality,” citing Western security officials.
“Putin has made deliberately ‘maximalist’ demands ahead of negotiations to end the war, which he knows will likely be unacceptable to Ukrainians and other Europeans, according to the security officials,” the report states. “The Russian leader is prepared to continue fighting if he doesn’t get his goals.
”In an interview with three American bloggers in Moscow today, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov flatly rejected “under any conditions” any plan that would put European peacekeepers in Ukraine. “Nobody is talking to us. They keep saying nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine, but they do everything about Russia without Russia,” Lavrov said. “Why should we give consent to the peacekeeping force or peacekeeping group, even if it is not force? So they want force, composed of the countries who declared us an enemy, and they would come as peacekeepers?”
TOM ROGAN OPINION: TRUMP SPLASHES A DASH OF CEASEFIRE PRESSURE ON RUSSIA
Good Wednesday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre.
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HAPPENING TODAY: SHUTDOWN THREAT MOVES TO THE SENATE: The House bill to keep the government funded through Sept. 30 squeaked through on a 217-213 after a bit of arm-twisting by Vice President J.D. Vance.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) was the lone Republican vote against, and Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) was the only Democrat to break ranks and vote for.
With a Friday midnight deadline looming, the continuing resolution — which would basically freeze spending at last year’s levels, albeit with a small boost in defense spending and veterans’ healthcare, while cutting $13 billion in other areas — now heads to the Senate, where it will need Democratic votes to pass.
Democrats are wary of being blamed for a government shutdown but have complained that the bill will allow Elon Musk to continue dismantling the federal government and potentially cut funding for healthcare, nutritional assistance, and veterans’ benefits.
“Every single word of that is a lie. Every single one — they just made it up. They didn’t read the bill. It’s nonsense,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said before yesterday’s House vote. “You can all read the bill. It’s 99 pages. This clean C.R. contains no poison pill riders, no policy riders there at all, no cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security, zero. No cuts to veterans’ benefits, zero. In fact, as was noted, we plus up the accounts for veterans.”
“The threat of government shutdown, they’re using it as some sort of attempt to wrestle power away from the president of the United States,” Johnson said. “If congressional Democrats refuse to support this clean C.R., they will be responsible for every troop who misses a paycheck, for every flight delay, from reduced staffing at TSA, for every negative consequence that comes from shutting down the government.”
JOHNSON DROPS AFGHAN VISA EXTENSION TO WIN OVER FUNDING BILL HOLDOUTS
SHIP WARS: The Center for Strategic and International Studies Hidden Reach initiative is out with a new report, “Ship Wars: Confronting China’s Dual-Use Shipbuilding Empire. ” The report, it says, “offers a detailed policy roadmap for how Washington can disrupt China’s military-civil fusion strategy, erode China’s market dominance, and increase shipbuilding capacity within the United States and key partner countries.”
“We show how China is leveraging its globally dominant commercial shipbuilding industry to support its naval modernization and how foreign companies are helping,” Brian Hart, deputy director of CSIS’s China Power Project, posted on X. “We offer detailed policy [recommendations] on how the U.S. can confront China’s dual-use shipyards.”
“China has rapidly established itself as the world’s dominant shipbuilding power, marginalizing the United States and its allies in a strategically important industry,” the report states. “In addition to building massive numbers of commercial ships, many Chinese shipyards also produce warships for the country’s rapidly growing navy.”
“U.S. policymakers need to act quickly in coordination with allies and partners to address the economic and national security threats posed by China’s shipbuilding industry.”
CHINA SHIPBUILDING DOMINATES, US STILL TRYING TO ‘RIGHT THE SHIP’
THE RUNDOWN:
Washington Examiner: US strikes deal with Ukraine for ceasefire, says the ‘ball’ is now in Russia’s ‘court’
Washington Examiner: Saudi Arabia and Qatar emerge as world’s mediators of choice
Washington Examiner: Tom Rogan Opinion: Trump splashes a dash of ceasefire pressure on Russia
Washington Examiner: China shipbuilding dominates, US still trying to ‘right the ship’
Washington Examiner: Court steps in after USAID employees ordered to shred or burn classified documents
Washington Examiner: House GOP passes stopgap funding bill with help of Trump-Vance pressure campaign
Washington Examiner: Johnson drops Afghan visa extension to win over funding bill holdouts
Washington Examiner: Trump spending freeze exposed and weakened anti-China activists, sources say
Washington Examiner: DOGE under investigation by OPM inspector general for access to email data system
Washington Examiner: Naval charity unveils new postpartum support program
Bloomberg: Western Officials Say Putin Knows His Ukraine Terms Won’t Be Met
Militarycom: Route Used by Army Black Hawk During Deadly Collision Was Far Too Risky, Safety Officials Say
The Hill: Lone Democrat to back House GOP spending bill explains decision
New York Times: Republicans Quietly Cede Power to Cancel Trump’s Tariffs, Avoiding a Tough Vote
Bloomberg: Lockheed-Boeing Venture That’s SpaceX Rival Ranked Subpar by Air Force
Defense News: F-35 Partners Fully Committed to Program, Dutch Defense Minister Says
Stars and Stripes: VA Secretary Accuses Lawmakers of Making the VA a ‘Punching Bag,’ Pouring Billions of Dollars Into Agency Without Reform
Washington Post: D.C. U.S. attorney targets Ukraine whistleblower Rep. Vindman
Air & Space Forces Magazine: By-Product of DEI Purge: Air Force Vets Find Their History Erased
Military.com: Hegseth Ban on Travel Forces Closures, Reduced Hours at Military Entrance Exam Sites
Air Force Times: Military Medical System Unprepared for Future Conflict, Experts Say
Inside Defense: Senate Committee Advances Feinberg and Phelan Nominations
DefenseScoop: Trump Nominates Anduril Executive, Former Special Operations Officer to be Army Undersecretary
Washington Post: Trump administration says it could take months to resume refugee admissions
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Cancels Life Cycle Industry Conference for 2025
Breaking Defense: Space Systems Command Reviewing Expensive Legacy Programs for Possible Commercial Shift
Air & Space Forces Magazine: LC-130 ‘Skibird’ Lands on Freshwater Ice as Air Force Prepares for More Arctic Operations
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Revives Air Race With an F-22 ACE Twist
THE CALENDAR:
WEDNESDAY | MARCH 12
9:30 a.m. G-50 Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee hearing: “Current readiness of the Joint Force,” with testimony from Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Mingus; Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. James Kilby; Gen. Christopher Mahoney, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps in the Department of the Navy; Gen. Michael Guetlein, vice chief of space operations; Lt. Gen. Adrian Spain, deputy chief of staff for operations; and Diana Maurer, director of the defense capabilities and management in the Government Accountability Office http://www.armed-services.senate.gov
10 a.m. — Foundation for Defense of Democracies virtual discussion: “Coaching the Cyber Team: The Future of the Office of the National Cyber Director and Cyber Governance,” with Chris Inglis, former national cyber director; John Costello, senior adviser, Cyberspace Solarium Commission; Samantha Ravich, chair, FDD Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation; and retired Rear. Adm. Mark Montgomery, senior director, FDD Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/03/12/coaching-thecyberteam
10 a.m. — Heritage Foundation virtual discussion: “From Special Relationship to Strategic Partnership: The Future of U.S.-Israel Relations,” with House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast (R-FL); Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter; and Ilan Berman, senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council https://www.heritage.org/middle-east/event
12 p.m. — Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft virtual discussion: “A New Approach to America’s Role in the World,” with House Armed Services ranking member Adam Smith (D-WA); and Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute https://quincyinst.org/events/a-new-approach-to-americas-role-in-the-world/
12 p.m. — Cato Institute discussion: “The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong Kong’s Greatest Dissident, and China’s Most Feared Critic,” with Mark Clifford, author and president, Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation; Sebastien Lai, son of Jimmy Lai; Mark Simon, former group director, Next Digital Companies; and Ian Vasquez, vice president for international studies, Cato Institute https://www.cato.org/events/troublemaker
2 p.m. 1333 H St. NW — Center for American Progress discussion: “Congressional Response to Trump’s National Security Chaos,” with House Armed Services ranking member Adam Smith (D-WA) https://www.americanprogress.org/events/congressional-response-to-trump
3 p.m. — Atlantic Council virtual discussion: “The role of the Panama Canal in a new era of U.S.-Panama ties,” with Ricaurte Vasquez Morales, administrator of the Panama Canal Authority https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/the-role-of-the-panama-canal
THURSDAY | MARCH 13
9:30 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “War in Ukraine and Lessons for Asia,” with former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, director of the Hoover Institution’s Institute for International Studies; Victor Cha, CSIS Korea chair; Mark Lippert, CSIS Korea chair; and Andy Lim, CSIS Korea chair https://www.csis.org/events/war-ukraine-and-lessons-asia-capital-cable-108
11 a.m. — Wilson Center Global Europe Program virtual discussion: “Germany’s Election Aftermath: Implications for Foreign Policy,” with Thorsten Benner, director of the Global Public Policy Institute of Berlin; Christoph von Marschall, chief diplomatic correspondent at Der Tagesspiegel; and Robin Quinville, director of the WWC Global Europe Program https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/germanys-election-aftermath
2 p.m. — Defense One virtual discussion: “State of Defense 2025: Navy and Marines,” with Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin; Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George; Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman; and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith https://events.defenseone.com/state-of-defense
