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Moscow has refused to comment on whether the ceasefire proposal agreed by the United States and Ukraine on Tuesday is acceptable to Russia, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying Moscow expects to be briefed by the US officials involved in the talks first.
Peskov told reporters during his daily press call on Wednesday that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz are expected to inform Moscow about the results of the talks in the coming days.
Rubio and Waltz met with top Ukrainian officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after the talks that Ukraine had accepted a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the US.
Peskov said that while there is no certainty yet on a date and place of a possible meeting between the Russian President Vladimir Putin and the US President Donald Trump, a phone call between the two leaders could be arranged quickly.
“If such a need arises, it will be organized very quickly. The existing channels for dialogue with the Americans allow this to be done in a fairly short time,” Peskov said.
In three weeks the stock market went from all-time highs to a full-blown recession scare.
CNN’s Matt Egan explains what’s behind the largely self-inflicted decline in confidence.
It’s been a whirlwind week in the trade war, with business owners and investors trying to respond after the US imposed a sweeping 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imported into the country at midnight on Wednesday.
Here’s how it played out: Hours before enacting the latest tariffs, Trump reversed a threat to double the rate on steel and aluminum from Canada, the US’s top source of imports for the metals. Instead, steel and aluminum from there will be subject to the 25% levy.
Who’s impacted? The tariff on steel and aluminum marks the first time in Trump’s second term that a tariff has been applied to all countries.
Before Wednesday, Trump had only enacted tariffs that applied to China, Mexico and Canada this term. In the case of Mexico and Canada, businesses can avoid paying tariffs through April 2 if they comply with the USMCA.
How have countries responded? The European Union swiftly retaliated by announcing just hours later that it would impose duties on 26 billion euros ($28 billion) worth of American goods in response to the “unjustified” tariffs. The countermeasures were “swift and proportionate,” it said in a statement.
Shortly before they went into effect, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese criticized the tariffs as “entirely unjustified” and “against the spirit of our two nations’ enduring friendship,” but said Canberra will impose no reciprocal levies.
China is the only country whose aluminum and steel will be tariffed at rates higher than 25%. That’s because a 20% across-the-board tariff on Chinese imports was already in effect prior to Wednesday, and the 25% steel and aluminum tariff will be tacked on top of that, bringing the total tariff rate to 45% on steel and aluminum from there.
China’s Commerce Ministry has summoned Walmart executives to investigate a report that the retail giant had pressured its suppliers in the country for discounts to cope with rising tariffs, according to state media.
Many businesses are struggling under President Donald Trump’s chaotic tariff announcements, which have escalated trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.
Last week, Trump doubled tariffs on all Chinese imports to 20%. China has responded with a fresh round of retaliatory tariffs, covering US agriculture imports, which took effect Monday.
Walmart had asked some of its Chinese vendors for significant price cuts of as much as 10% to offset the impact of levies imposed by Trump, Bloomberg reported last week. CNN has reached out to Walmart for comment.
The Chinese officials requested the meeting with Walmart to “understand the situation,” according to a Wednesday post by Yuyuantantian, state broadcaster CCTV’s official social media account.
“If true, Walmart’s demand for Chinese suppliers to bear the full tariff burden is unreasonable and disrupts fair competition and international trade order,” the post said.
It added that Chinese authorities could take further action if the American retailer continued to request discounts.
Kyiv has accepted a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire in Russia’s war, thawing relations with Washington after a tumultuous stretch in the US-Ukraine relationship.
The proposal covers the entire frontline of the fighting with Russia, not just the air and sea, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after a more than eight-hour long meeting between US and Ukrainian officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
What Ukraine gained: The US agreed to immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine.
What the US gained: The two sides also agreed to sign the rare minerals deal as soon as possible.
What now? How the potential truce plays out will be critical to Ukraine’s future. And crucially, it won’t play out without Russian buy-in.
As US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said immediately after the meeting, the onus is now on Russia to take steps to end the war. “We hope that they’ll say yes, that they’ll say yes to peace. The ball is now in their court,” he said of the Russians.
US President Donald Trump later welcomed the news and vowed to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the plan, potentially this week.
Putin has made clear that he wants Moscow to gain control over the entirety of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Russian forces currently occupy nearly 20% of Ukraine’s territory, up from the roughly 7% Moscow controlled before it launched its unprovoked full-scale invasion in February 2022. Some 6 million Ukrainians live under Russian occupation.
House Speaker Mike Johnson spoke on Tuesday about Elon Musk’s influence over legislation, saying at an event at Georgetown University the tech billionaire can “blow the whole thing up.”
“My job is to find the equilibrium point. So, I think of it metaphorically. I get up every morning and I have this giant sort of control panel. It’s got 219 dials on it,” Johnson said describing his role as a speaker juggling a narrow majority.
“I got the President Trump dial. And now I have the Elon dial. Because Elon has the largest platform in the world, literally. And if he goes on and says something that’s misunderstood or misinterpreted about something we’re doing, he can blow the whole thing up,” Johnson continued.
“So, I spend a lot of time working with all these dials and all these folks, and just run around all day and make sure everybody’s happy.”
Johnson has said he speaks to Musk almost daily.
Musk last year derided a Republican-backed government spending bill in a series of posts on X.
A House foreign affairs committee hearing adjourned early Tuesday following a tense exchange between lawmakers after the committee chair referred to transgender Rep. Sarah McBride as “Mr. McBride.”
Texas GOP Rep. Keith Self recognized McBride of Delaware as “Mr. McBride,” to which the Democratic congresswoman responded, “Thank you, Madam Chair.”
Democratic Rep. Bill Keating of Massachusetts jumped to McBride’s defense, slamming Self’s comments as “not decent.”
“Chairman, you are out of order. Mister chairman, have you no decency? I mean I have come to know you a little bit, but this is not decent,” Keating said.
Self defended his remarks and adjourned the meeting quickly after.
McBride said later Tuesday on X: “No matter how I’m treated by some colleagues, nothing diminishes my awe and gratitude at getting to represent Delaware in Congress,” appearing to refer to the contentious moment.
The tense exchange involving McBride, who made history as the first openly transgender person elected to Congress, is one of recent attacks on her identity that she has faced from Republican colleagues.
GOP Rep. Nancy Mace introduced a resolution last year — shortly after McBride was elected — to ban transgender women from using the women’s restroom at the US Capitol and has repeatedly called McBride “a biological man.”
