Putin supports US ceasefire plan but insists on guarantees for a long-lasting peace to address root causes of conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he agrees with the idea of a US-backed 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but noted that the details of the accord need to be discussed and that any truce should lead to a long-lasting peace.
“We agree with the proposals to cease hostilities,” Putin told reporters at a news conference in the Kremlin on Thursday following talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
“But we proceed from the fact that this cessation should be such that it would lead to long-term peace and would eliminate the original causes of this crisis,” he said.
“The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it. But there are issues that we need to discuss,” Putin said. “And I think we need to talk to our American colleagues as well,” he said.
Shortly after Putin’s remarks, US President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that Putin’s statement was “very promising” but it “wasn’t complete” and said he was willing to meet or talk with the Russian leader.
He said special US envoy Steve Witkoff was engaged in serious discussions with Russian officials in Moscow regarding the truce proposal.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticised Putin, saying his response was “very manipulative”.
“He is actually preparing a refusal as of now,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram, adding that the Russian president “is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war, wants to kill Ukrainians.”
Next steps
Putin’s comments on the US-backed plan were his first since Ukraine said it would accept the proposal following talks with US officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. Following the meeting, the US announced the resumption of military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv after a temporary halt.
While offering support for a ceasefire, Putin also listed a series of issues he said would need clarifying.
Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari, reporting from Moscow, said Russia wants guarantees that the ceasefire won’t be used as a chance for Ukrainian troops, especially in Russia’s Kursk region, to receive weapons. Moscow also wants to discuss who is going to monitor the truce, she said.
“Putin said that he’s going to speak with the US president soon to pass on his concerns and questions that continue at this point, but for the time being, [he is] making it clear that Russia is in favour of ending this conflict, but it has to be clearly on their terms,” Jabbari said.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with Kyiv and its European allies decrying the assault as an act of aggression against a sovereign country.
Putin at the time described the invasion as a “special military operation” aimed at the “demilitarisation” of Ukraine. The Russian leader has also demanded Ukraine drop its request to become part of the NATO military alliance and for Kyiv to recognise Russia’s annexation of four partially occupied Ukrainian regions in the country’s southeast.
Al Jazeera’s Jabbari said Russia sees the ceasefire talks “as an opportunity to get what they need in order to have a long-term settlement in the conflict with Ukraine, because they are adamant that their demands have to be met.”
The flurry of diplomacy comes as Russian forces have continued to make territorial advances in eastern Ukraine, and recaptured territory in the Russian region of Kursk, which Ukrainian troops had seized in a surprise incursion in August last year.
Analysts say Ukraine had hoped to keep control of the territory and use it as leverage in negotiations, but Russia last week stepped up its effort to regain control and the Kremlin on Thursday said Moscow’s operation in Kursk was in its final stage.
