What sport is Putin enjoying within the cease-fire talks?

Not nyet, a minimum of not but. On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first public remarks in response to the Trump administration’s efforts to dealer a thirty-day cease-fire in Russia’s struggle in Ukraine. “The thought itself is appropriate, and we actually help it,” Putin stated, earlier than saying that the main points wanted to be mentioned additional and any deal should handle the struggle’s “root causes.” Then Putin met with US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff into the wee hours of Friday—with neither the White Home nor the Kremlin sharing a lot about how these talks went. For talks which might be all the time fruitful, we turned to our specialists to interpret these indicators and discover what’s coming subsequent.

• Ian Brzezinski (@IanBrzezinski): Senior fellow on the Scowcroft Middle for Technique and Safety and a former US deputy assistant secretary of protection for Europe and NATO coverage
• Justina Budginaite-Froehly (@JustBudginaite): Nonresident senior fellow on the Scowcroft Middle’s Transatlantic Safety Initiative and a former official within the Lithuanian Ministry of Protection 
• Daniel Fried (@AmbDanFried): Weiser Household distinguished fellow and a former US assistant secretary of state for Europe
• Hanna Liubakova (@HannaLiubakova): Nonresident fellow with the Eurasia Middle, and journalist and researcher from Belarus

Trump’s pitch

• Ian calls Trump’s proposal “probably the most tangible prospect to finish the violence” in Ukraine since Putin launched his full-scale invasion in February 2022. 
• The proposal, which was endorsed by Ukraine earlier this week at talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is “a public check of Putin’s readiness to pursue peace, if to not shelve his imperial ambitions,” Ian tells us.
• Jeddah was a turning level for Ukraine, too, by shifting the main target again to Russia as an impediment to peace, says Justina. “The primary constructive outcomes are already seen: america has lifted the ban on army help and intelligence sharing with Ukraine. The following outcomes—probably envisioned by Ukraine prematurely—are incoming: Putin can’t comply with this cease-fire.”

Signal as much as obtain speedy perception in your inbox from Atlantic Council specialists on world occasions as they unfold.

Putin’s balk

• Putin’s response tying the cease-fire to the struggle’s “root causes” is his “approach of demanding Ukraine’s everlasting exclusion from NATO, neutered Ukrainian armed forces, and [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy’s removing from workplace,” Ian tells us. 
• Putin began the struggle “claiming that Ukraine and its Western supporters posed an existential menace to Russia,” Justina factors out. Accepting a cease-fire brokered by Ukraine and america would symbolize “a strategic defeat in Putin’s world.” 
• Putin’s acknowledged cease-fire circumstances are “not a promising begin, a minimum of in public,” Dan tells us. Provided that Trump referred to as Putin’s feedback “incomplete” and confused the necessity for a fast cease-fire, Dan says this might imply that Trump “will push Putin for a extra forthcoming response,” simply because the White Home put stress on Zelenskyy.

On the sidelines

• Putin was flanked on Thursday by Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka. “It nearly appeared as if Putin wanted his closest ally to again him up, with Lukashenka dutifully enjoying his half,” says Hanna. “But once more, this solely emphasised Belarus’s near-total dependence on Russia.” 
• Belarus has been an confederate in Russia’s struggle on Ukraine. Nevertheless, says Hanna, “With uncertainties surrounding peace talks and Russia’s efforts to emerge from isolation, Lukashenka now finds it tougher than ever to stay related for Putin.”

On deck

• The following section of US-Russia talks will rely on what was stated behind closed doorways in Moscow. “What is just not publicly recognized, a minimum of not but,” says Dan, “is what Putin advised Witkoff and whether or not Putin and Trump will converse quickly.” 
• “The following step shall be much more tough,” Ian warns. What’s wanted for a long-lasting peace is a safety framework for Ukraine that “deters additional Russian aggression, holds Moscow accountable for the devastation it has imposed on Ukraine, and doesn’t reward Russia with territory seized by army aggression.” Meaning “the ball could also be heading again in Trump’s court docket.”
• Will Trump now push for Russia to simply accept an unconditional cease-fire, Dan asks, or will he “permit Putin to complicate and delay, attaching circumstances to a cease-fire that undermine the US initiative whereas Putin seeks Ukraine’s efficient capitulation?”
• Ian argues {that a} failure to swiftly execute “most stress” on Russia “would make Trump look weak.” That’s as a result of by producing and driving ahead this cease-fire proposal, Ian surmises, Trump has “put his personal credibility, together with his toughness, on the road.”

Additional studying

Thu, Mar 13, 2025

Vladimir Putin doesn’t need peace. He needs to subjugate Ukraine.

UkraineAlert
By
Mykola Bielieskov

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s evasive response to US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire proposal underlines his dedication to proceed with an invasion that goals to extinguish Ukraine as a state and nation, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Associated Specialists:
Hanna Liubakova,
Justina Budginaite-Froehly,
Daniel Fried, and
Ian Brzezinski

Picture: Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a signing ceremony and a press convention following a gathering along with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow, Russia, March 13, 2025. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/Pool