Vladimir Putin said there were many questions about the proposed US ceasefire with Ukraine, and it appeared to be setting a set of drastic conditions that Russia needs to meet before agreeing to such a ceasefire.
Speaking with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at a press conference in the Kremlin, he agreed in principle to the proposal that we would halt the fighting, but said he wanted to address the “the root cause of the conflict.”
“The idea itself is correct and we certainly support it,” Putin said. However, he suggested that neither Ukraine nor mobilisation should halt Western military aid to Kiev during the 30-day ceasefire.
Donald Trump said Putin “issued a very promising statement, but it wasn't perfect” before his meeting with NATO executive director Mark Latte.
The US president said he was “ready to talk” with Putin. “We'll see if Russia agrees, but if it doesn't, it's a very unfortunate moment,” he said. “I want to see a ceasefire from Russia. I hope Russia does the right thing.”
Putin claims that Ukraine had sought a ceasefire due to the situation on the battlefield, and that Russian forces were “moving almost everywhere,” bringing closer to full control of the Kursk region, where Kyiv launched a surprising invasion last year.
“How about these 30 days? [ceasefire] Will it be used? How can we continue to forcefully mobilize Ukraine? How to supply arms to Ukraine? … These are legitimate questions,” he said.
Ukraine has previously shown that it will continue its mobilization efforts during the ceasefire.
“We need to discuss this with our American partners, perhaps a call with Donald Trump,” Putin added, thanking the US president for his involvement in peace talks.
By avoiding utterly rejecting Trump's proposal, Putin appears to be balancing between not openly rejecting Trump's push for peace, while also putting his own harsh demands, that is, potentially extending negotiations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Putin's vague response to the proposal as “manipulation.”
“We've now heard it from Putin's very predictable and very manipulative words in response to the idea of a ceasefire,” Zelensky said in his evening speech. “As we've always said, the only person who drags things out, the only person who gets unconstructive is Russia.”
Zelensky said Putin “fears directly to tell President Trump that he wants to continue this war,” and accused Russian leaders of “framing the idea of a ceasefire that anything should work or be as long as possible.”
Speaking from the White House, Trump explained more detail about US negotiations with Russia and Ukraine, saying “many individual subjects are being discussed.”
Trump showed that the US and Ukraine were “discussing fragments of land that were maintained and lost, and all the other elements of the final agreement. Power plants are involved. You know, there's a very large one that's involved. Who will get the power plants and who will get this?”
Trump said Ukraine also “fostered NATO and being in NATO, and everyone knows what the answer is.”
“We've been discussing the concept of land because if that doesn't mean anything, we don't want to waste time in a ceasefire,” Trump said. “So we're saying: Look, this is what you can get, this is what you can't get.
“Now we're going to see if Russia is there or not, it's going to be a very unfortunate moment for the world,” he said.
When asked if there was leverage to force Russia to agree to a ceasefire, he did but said he didn't want to be detailed. “We were talking to him and based on the statement he made today, they were pretty positive,” he said.
Trump said that if a ceasefire is not agreed, “thing that would be very bad for Russia is financially things,” but he refused to elaborate on whether he would mean new sanctions and tariffs.
British Foreign Secretary David Lamy said: Our support for Ukraine, and the support of other partners, remains Ironclad. ”
The Russian president traveled to the Kursk region on Wednesday on a rare battlefield visit, where he spoke with Russian troops seeking to expel Ukrainian troops from the land he captured last year.
“What will happen in the Kursk region? Will the troops stationed there be orders given to surrender?” Putin asked. “It remains unclear how the situation along the frontline will be resolved.”
Although Ukraine has not officially confirmed an organized retreat from the Kursk region, Zelensky said on Wednesday that “military headquarters is doing what it should be – saving the lives of the largest number of soldiers.”
On Thursday, a source from the Ukrainian military, who recently left the Kursk region, said: The only question now is to manage your withdrawal with as little loss as possible. ”
However, while Ukraine appears to be withdrawing from Kursk, Kiev has largely stabilized the front in eastern Ukraine, where Russian attacks have been stagnant for the past few weeks.
Putin's remarks are expected to meet Putin to meet after Washington consultations with Saudi Arabian Ukrainian officials after Trump's envoy and close ally Steve Witkov landed in Moscow.
After these talks, Ukraine said it was ready to accept an immediate 30-day ceasefire, and the US said it had put a proposal in Moscow.
Recent rhetoric from Russian officials has informed us that as Moscow continues to attack on the battlefield there is little urgency to reach a deal or make concessions.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told US national security adviser Mike Waltz that Moscow viewed the proposed 30-day ceasefire as “a short reprieve for the Ukrainian forces.”
Maria Zakharova, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said on Thursday that Moscow is ready to discuss the US-backed peace initiative “early today.” However, she showed that Russia had little urgency in stopping to combat, which repeatedly failed to accept Ukraine's western peacekeeping forces as security guarantees and would be targeted if deployed.
Ukraine says some kind of security guarantee will be required to sign a permanent ceasefire agreement.
Continuing resistance to Moscow's European peacekeeping forces – seen as the only viable alternative to NATO membership to ensure its security by Ukraine – presents a major obstacle to the peace that Kiev is accepted.
Putin repeatedly rejected the possibility of a temporary ceasefire, saying it focused on dealing with what it called the “root cause” of the conflict.
Observers believe Putin is determined to submit a series of biggest requests before agreeing to a ceasefire that is likely to extend negotiations.
Reuters and Bloomberg report that Russia has presented a list of such requests in discussions with the US to end the war in Ukraine and reset ties with Washington.
Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the report.
These requests include demilitarization of Ukraine, the end of Western military aid, and a commitment to keeping Kyiv out of NATO. Moscow can also promote a ban on the deployment of foreign troops in Ukraine and call for international recognition of Putin's claims on the four Ukrainian regions of Crimea and Russia, annexed in 2022.
Putin could also revisit some of the broader demands that have started in 2021. This goes beyond Ukraine, including NATO's call to halt NATO's suspension to halt the deployment of weapons in member states that participated since 1997, when the Alliance began to expand to former communist countries.
Many in Europe fear that these conditions for peace could undermine the West's ability to increase military presence, allowing Putin to expand his influence across the continent.
