President Vladimir Putin said Russia is ready for a ceasefire, but suggested that Ukraine should accept further terms before it can reach an agreement.
“We agree with the proposal to stop hostilities,” the Russian leader said at a press conference Thursday. Russia will support a pause in the fight “there are issues that need to be discussed,” he said, adding that “we need to make a call with Trump.”
In an obvious response to Putin’s statement, President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Russian leaders issued a “promising statement” but hoped Russia would agree to a ceasefire.
Speaking from the oval office during a meeting with NATO chief Mark Latte, Trump said he hopes Russia will “do the right thing” and added that “serious debate” is ongoing with Putin and others.
When asked if he was willing to meet Putin, Trump said, “I want to meet him and talk to him.”
Trump envoy Steve Witkov arrives in Moscow on Thursday and is expected to meet with Putin.
Putin had expressed concern that a temporary ceasefire proposed by the US and Ukraine would give Kiev’s armies the opportunity to reorganize and question the mechanisms to prevent this during a potential ceasefire. Details such as who will monitor and enforce the ceasefire, he said, need to be considered.
Putin has long held the greatest demands to end the war that Russia believes it has the advantage. He previously said he hopes that Ukraine will withdraw from areas partially occupied by Russia – essentially giving the Kremlin more land – promises not to join NATO and protects Russian culture and language within the country.
Earlier on Thursday, he urged his soldiers to secure a quick and decisive victory while visiting the frontline.
Putin’s statement was Moscow’s first public response to a temporary 30-day ceasefire plan sketched by Chief Secretary Marko Rubio and his Ukrainian counterpart this week. President Donald Trump has suggested that if he rejects the proposal, he can strike Russia with sanctions.
Earlier Thursday, Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov called the outlined plan “nothing but a temporary rest for the Ukrainian army.”
He told Russian state media that the country’s “goal is still a long-term peaceful reconciliation… (it) takes into account the legitimate interests of our country.”
“The steps to mimic peaceful actions seem useless to anyone,” he said he told US national security adviser Mike Waltz in a call Wednesday.
Former KGB agent Putin was covered in military fatigue when he visited Kursk, the only region of Russia, partially occupied by Ukrainian forces. Shortly afterwards, the Russian Ministry of Defense said it had recaptured the town of Suda, the largest settlement previously occupied by Ukrainian forces.
“In the near future, our job in the shortest possible time frame is to decisively defeat enemies that have settled in the Kursk region,” Putin said. He also suggested creating a “security zone” at the border.
“There’s no doubt that the Kursk region will be released soon,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a media briefing Thursday.
Rubio may discuss the war when he meets the top diplomat at Quebec’s Seven Group (Quebec Summit) on Thursday, or at the G-7 summit, given Trump’s repeated desire to take over Canada.
American and Russian officials are talking behind the scenes this week. Trump sent Witkov to Russia, threatening sanctions against the Kremlin.
“I can do very bad things for Russia financially,” Trump said Wednesday in his oval office. “I don’t want to do that because I want to get peace.”
Despite this threat, Trump has called on the Kremlin for some concessions, but openly suggests that Ukraine must agree to many of Putin’s demands.
The proposal from talks on a tentative 30-day ceasefire in Saudi Arabia has been welcomed by European leaders. However, Ukrainian President Voldimia Zelenki warned in a nightly speech on Wednesday about the history of defeating Russia’s Truth.
“What matters is the partner’s ability to ensure that Russia is not deceived, but is truly ready to end the war,” he said.
Ukrainian officials and citizens say they want peace, but they are only alongside a security guarantee that will prevent the Kremlin from attacking again.
“I think 99% of Ukrainians want the war to end in a fair way,” Vitaliy Kim, governor of Mykolaiv Oblast, told NBC News on Wednesday. “We need a guarantee that we won’t be back in a few years.”
The southern cities of Mikolife are not deeply impressed by what they see as Trump’s attempt to force Ukraine into a disadvantaged and dangerous settlement.
It’s like a “trick for young children,” said Yuriy, 46, a construction worker pushing babies in a stroller near a city monument for dead soldiers. “My daughter has been acting more than Trump for over 70 years. She’s at least in her diaper, and the man is all over the world —-.”
One country with no chance is Poland, a former eastern bloc country that raises defence spending this year to 4.7% and is one of Russia’s most vocal critics.
Polish President Andrze Duda told the Financial Times newspaper on Thursday that the US wanted the US to redeploy American nuclear weapons from Western Europe to its own country.
“We need to shift the eastern part of the NATO infrastructure as well,” he said. “To me, this is obvious.”
(Source: NBC News)