Putin said a ceasefire “serious questions”. So it should be asked what such a break of fire would be used for. “So that the forced mobilization in Ukraine continues? So that weapons are delivered there?” Asked the Russian president. “With our American colleagues” must be talked about the proposal of the ceasefire. “Maybe there should be a phone call with President Trump to discuss this with him,” said Putin.
Trump said in Washington that he would “like to meet Putin or talk to him”. “But we have to get it behind quickly.” The US President described Putin’s statements about the ceasefire proposal “promising”, but “not completely”. Many details of a final agreement have already been discussed, said the US President. “Now we’ll see if Russia is there. If not, it will be a very disappointing moment for the world.”
Putin made it clear that further steps regarding a break of fire were to be made dependent on the progress of the Russian armed forces in the Russian border region of Kursk. The Russian soldiers are currently moving there to drive away the Ukrainian army of Russian territory.
“Depending on how the situation develops on site, we will agree on the next steps to end the conflict and reach an agreement for all acceptable agreement,” said Putin. At a joint press conference with the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko, the Kremlin boss also said that the Russian armed forces are currently being advised on almost all front sections.
It was Putin’s first reaction to a 30-day ceasefire that the USA and Ukraine had made two days earlier after negotiations in Saudi Arabia. Putin’s consultant Juri Uschakow had previously criticized the proposal. A ceasefire means nothing more than “a temporary breath for the Ukrainian soldiers,” said Uschakow on Russian state television.
Russia is striving for a “long -term peaceful solution”, which took into account the “legitimate interests” of the country, he added. The common idea of the United States and Ukraine called the presidential advisor a “hasty” step that was not beneficial for a long -term solution.
To visit the US specialist Steve Witkoff, who has been in Moscow since Thursday, Uschakow said that a meeting of both sides with representatives is planned “on a very high level”. A conversation with Putin is also “not excluded”.
Trump had shown confidently on Wednesday that his delegation could be successful in the negotiations in Moscow. “If we can stop Russia, we have a complete ceasefire,” said Trump. “And I think there will never be a war again.”
Immediately before negotiations with the United States, Moscow made it clear to the European allies of Ukraine that the sending of peace troops was regarded as an admission to a “direct armed conflict” with Russia. Russia would react to this with “all available means”, said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Sacharova. Ukraine wants its European allies to protect the country with the presence of peace troops from Russia at the end of the conflict.
