President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Thursday didn’t rule out a U.S. and Ukrainian proposal for a monthlong cease-fire, however he set down quite a few situations that may most certainly delay any truce — or may make one unimaginable to realize.
Mr. Putin’s feedback throughout a information convention highlighted the stability he was making an attempt to strike, exuding confidence in Russia’s place on the battlefield whereas in search of to proceed talks with the US and keep away from upsetting President Trump. The U.S. president, having antagonized the nation’s allies and realigned American international coverage in Russia’s favor, has emerged as a key geopolitical companion for Mr. Putin.
In sharp remarks later within the day, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine mentioned the Russian chief set so many situations “that nothing will work out in any respect or that it’ll not work out for so long as potential.”
Mr. Putin’s feedback got here earlier than his assembly with Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s Center East envoy, to debate the cease-fire proposal that Ukraine had already agreed to. They usually got here as Russia stored up its momentum in the important thing battle within the Kursk area of Russia, the place Moscow’s forces appeared near pushing Ukraine out of the territory it seized final summer time. Such a growth would scale back Kyiv’s leverage in future peace talks.
“The thought itself is the correct one, and we undoubtedly help it,” Mr. Putin mentioned, referring to the cease-fire proposal. “However there are questions that we have to focus on, and I feel that we have to discuss them by means of with our American colleagues and companions.”
Mr. Putin advised that his situations would come with limits to Ukraine’s potential to mobilize extra troops and import weaponry throughout a cease-fire — restrictions that may put Kyiv at a deeper drawback if the combating restarted.
Mr. Putin’s feedback have been the primary concerning the cease-fire supply that emerged from negotiations between the US and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia this week. They advised that the Russian chief seen that proposal as simply part of a broader negotiation between Washington and Moscow, and that he was keen to point out that he was partaking with Mr. Trump’s efforts to finish the struggle that Mr. Putin started along with his full-scale invasion three years in the past.
Mr. Putin mentioned he would possibly “have a name with President Trump and discuss it over with him.” When requested in a while Thursday if he would converse with the Russian president, Mr. Trump mentioned he would “love to fulfill” and discuss with him.
“We’d prefer to see a cease-fire from Russia,” Mr. Trump advised reporters whereas assembly with the NATO secretary common, Mark Rutte, within the Oval Workplace.
Mr. Trump mentioned the US had mentioned with Ukraine potential concessions as a part of a peace settlement. “We’ve been discussing with Ukraine land and items of land that may be stored and misplaced, and all the different components of a closing settlement,” Mr. Trump mentioned, including, “Lots of the main points of a closing settlement have truly been mentioned.”
Mr. Putin seems eager to remain on Mr. Trump’s good aspect, given the geopolitical victories that the U.S. president has already delivered for the Kremlin.
However Mr. Putin’s feedback additionally confirmed that the Russian chief noticed his forces as having the higher hand on the battlefield and that it could be to Russia’s benefit to attract out the negotiations.
He mentioned on Thursday that Russia would proceed to insist on a peace deal that addressed the “authentic causes” of the struggle — suggesting that his push for main Western concessions, akin to a discount of NATO’s presence in Jap Europe, hadn’t modified, although it wasn’t clear if he would make them a stipulation for a monthlong cease-fire.
Mr. Zelensky known as Mr. Putin’s response to the cease-fire proposal “very predictable, very manipulative.”
“Putin, after all, is afraid to inform President Trump straight that he needs to proceed this struggle, needs to kill Ukrainians,” he mentioned in his night deal with.
Mr. Putin was easy in declaring {that a} fast truce could be higher for Ukraine than for Russia.
“In these situations, it appears to me that it could be excellent for the Ukrainian aspect if there have been a cease-fire, even for 30 days,” Mr. Putin mentioned. “And we’re in favor of it. However there are nuances.”
He then listed these “nuances,” beginning with the Ukrainian forces nonetheless in Kursk. He mentioned that Russia wouldn’t enable these troops to peacefully withdraw and that the Ukrainian management may as an alternative organize them “to easily give up.”
Ukraine shocked Russia in August with a cross-border incursion into Kursk, seizing a number of hundred sq. miles of territory.
However Russia’s Protection Ministry mentioned on Thursday that the nation’s army had regained full management of Sudzha, the principle city in Kursk that Ukraine had seized. Ukrainian officers haven’t confirmed a retreat from the city, the place Wednesday night time Kyiv’s army reported fierce combating. If confirmed, such a retreat would depart solely small pockets of Russian land alongside the border beneath Ukrainian management.
Mr. Putin additionally advised he would possibly demand that Ukraine’s Western allies halt arms deliveries, and mentioned it was not clear how the cease-fire could be monitored alongside a entrance line of some 700 miles.
“These are all questions demanding very cautious research,” he mentioned.
Whereas Mr. Putin’s situations could also be unimaginable for Ukraine to simply accept, he didn’t repeat his onerous demand from final yr {that a} cease-fire would depend upon Ukraine’s withdrawing from the 4 Ukrainian areas that Russia had declared as its personal however didn’t absolutely management.
Nonetheless, Dara Massicot, a Russian army specialist on the Carnegie Endowment for Worldwide Peace, which is predicated in Washington, known as Mr. Putin’s new calls for “very harmful for Ukraine.”
In impact, she argued, Mr. Putin was pushing for a state of affairs wherein the West wouldn’t be capable to assist Ukraine rebuild its armed forces whereas Russian factories pumped out new weaponry.
“What Putin mentioned at present implies that the West can not help Ukraine whereas Russia regenerates,” she mentioned.
Reporting was contributed by Maria Varenikova from Kyiv, Ukraine; Marc Santora from Dnipro, Ukraine; Paul Sonne from Berlin; and Eric Schmitt from Washington.
