Russia not rule out contact with US in coming days

MOSCOW - Russia does not rule out contact with the United States in the coming days, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday.

"We do not rule out contact with US representatives in the coming days," Zakharova was quoted by TASS news agency as saying.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump announced his plan to call Russian President Vladimir Putin in the next couple of days to discuss the situation surrounding Ukraine.

According to the joint statement issued by the Ukrainian and US delegations following their meeting in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Ukraine expressed readiness to accept the US proposal for an immediate interim 30-day ceasefire.

The statement, issued after hours of consultations between senior officials from the two countries, said the truce could be extended by mutual agreement, adding that "the United States will communicate to Russia that Russian reciprocity is the key to achieving peace".

Washington has agreed to "immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume security assistance to Ukraine", the statement said.