Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was open to a 30-day ceasefire, as proposed by the US, but proposed vague terms for his support, such as wanting to eliminate “the cause of this crisis.”
Ukraine agreed to support the framework in consultations with the US earlier this week, and the Trump administration called for Russia to sign on.
“The idea itself is the right thing and we definitely support it,” Putin said of the ceasefire at a press conference Thursday. “But I think there are questions that we need to discuss and we need to discuss them with our American colleagues and partners.”
In his first public comment about the 30-day ceasefire, Putin said some of the issues to tackle are whether Ukraine will utilize the ceasefire to reload, what will happen with Ukrainian troops in Russia's Kursk region, and how the ceasefire will be overseen.
“We agree with the proposal to stop the fight, but we move on from the assumption that a ceasefire will lead to lasting peace and that the root cause of the crisis should be removed,” the Russian president said.
According to the Associated Press, Putin also thanked President Trump for “a lot of attention paid to the reconciliation in Ukraine.”
Putin is reportedly scheduled to meet Witkov on Thursday. According to Flightradar data, the Witkoff plane appeared to have landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport earlier in the day.
Trump told White House reporters on Thursday that he was cautiously optimistic about Putin's reaction, sitting with NATO secretary Mark Latte.
“Based on the statement he made today, they were pretty positive,” Trump said. “I hope Russia will make a deal too.”
Putin's comments on Thursday appeared to contradict his advisor's comments earlier today. Yuri Ushakov, Russia's former ambassador to the US and senior aide to Putin, said the proposed ceasefire would only benefit Ukraine, but Russia would not get anything in return.
“A temporary ceasefire for 30 days. Now, what will it give us? It gives us nothing,” Ushakov said in an interview with Russian media. “It only gives the Ukrainians the opportunity to reorganize, gather strength and continue doing the same thing in the future.”
Ushakov said the Kremlin was looking for a “long-term peaceful settlement.” He spoke with national security adviser Mike Waltz on Wednesday.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this week after Ukraine expressed his willingness to greenlight the ceasefire.
“Our hope is that the Russians say yes, they will agree, so we can talk in a way that is acceptable and lasting for both sides about how to end this war forever,” Rubio said.
Rubio and Waltz met with senior Ukrainian officials from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia was seen as a way to repair relations between Kiev and Washington after a fierce meeting with President Trump, Vice President Vance and Ukrainian President Vokraine Voldy Mirzelensky at the White House.
The US has announced that it will restore military and intelligence news support after consultations in Jeddah.
Zelensky reiterated on Thursday that Ukraine is ready to attack the ceasefire.
“Ukraine was ready for an air and sea ceasefire, but the US proposed to land it. Ukraine welcomes this proposal. Controlling such a ceasefire remains an important issue and we appreciate the US' willingness to organize such a technical aspect of management,” Zelensky said. I wrote it Thursday morning at X
Zelensky also squealed Russia for not providing a “meaning response” to the proposal.
“This again shows that Russia is trying to extend the war and postpone peace as long as possible. The Ukrainian president hopes that US pressure is sufficient to end the war on Russia.”
