Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, stated on Thursday that Moscow supported the president’s plan to declare a ceasefire in the fight against Ukraine, but that he also raised concerns that the Kremlin would need to find answers before agreeing to a truce.
He claimed that Russia should discuss the terms of a US-US peace proposal.
Trump has veered between expressing confidence in Putin’s commitment to a peace deal and imposing new sanctions on Russia if it rejects a ceasefire. His comments, the first on the proposed ceasefire, were met with mixed reviews from Ukraine and Ukraine.
What Putin said, what conditions he set out for Moscow to support a ceasefire, and how the US and Ukraine responded to his most recent statement:
The US-Ukraine ceasefire agreement is what, exactly?
Teams from Washington and Kyiv gathered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday to bargain peace plans.
Following this meeting, the two nations put out a joint statement proposing an “immediate, interim” 30-day ceasefire on the war front.
During the ceasefire, “the exchange of prisoners of war, the release of civilian detainees, and the return of forcibly transferred Ukrainian children” were the focus of the statement.
Ukraine’s European allies would be “involved in the peace process,” the document stated, but it did not mention sanctions against Russia or security guarantees for Ukraine.
The Russian military training program at Kursk in Russia was not specified in the document either.
What was Putin’s response to the ceasefire?
For almost two days, nothing.
Then, on Thursday, Putin responded to the ceasefire proposal at a press conference alongside Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus.
In his opinion, a ceasefire was a legitimate idea, and Russia was in general in favor of it. He told Russian reporters, “We support the proposals to end hostilities.”
There are issues that we need to talk about, he continued, and I believe we should do so with our American colleagues and partners. Additionally, he suggested making a phone call to President Trump to talk about it with him.
What “problems” does Putin want to be resolved before a ceasefire?
The Kremlin must accept a ceasefire in order to be able to address three issues, according to the Russian president, who outlined three options.
What will happen to the Kursk incursion?
The first query Putin posed concerns Kursk, Russia’s border region.
The Ukrainian army launched a surprise invasion of Kursk in August of last year, seizing control of the area.
Nearly all of Kursk, which the Russian army had taken, are still under Russian control, with the exception of Kursk’s 1, 100 square kilometers (425 square miles).
“Will everyone who is there come out unharmed?” Or will the Ukrainian government direct them to “lay down their arms and surrender”? Punted by Putin.
During the ceasefire, will Ukraine mobilize its forces and obtain additional weapons?
Putin also suggested that Ukraine could use a 30-day ceasefire to appoint new forces in eastern Ukraine, where Russia has experienced slow, unproven gains in recent months, as well as Kursk.
Putin said at the press conference, “Russian troops are advance in almost every area of the front… So how will these 30 days be used”? For the newly-mobilized units to continue being trained, weapons to be delivered there, and for continued forced mobilization in Ukraine? How can we be certain that nothing similar will occur, and how can we be sure of that? What will be the organizational structure of control?
The 30-day ceasefire, according to Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy adviser, would only allow for the Ukrainian army to regroup, according to Yuri Ushakov, who added that it would only allow for temporary restraint.
Ukraine has recently experienced workforce shortages. When Russian troops took control of Kurakhove, a town in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, in January, Ukrainian troops stormed the area.
The ceasefire will be verified by who?
Putin also questioned the effectiveness of the ceasefire’s monitoring and who would oversee its implementation with the aid of both parties.
According to him, “we proceed from the fact that this cessation should be made in a way that will result in long-term peace and eliminate the root causes of this crisis.”
Who will issue orders to halt hostilities? Who will determine the location of and who has “broken a possible ceasefire agreement for 2, 000 kilometers (1, 243 miles)”?
What has the US done?
Putin made the remarks shortly after Steve Witkoff, the special envoy to US President Donald Trump, met with Putin and other Russian officials. Witkoff has been involved in Russian-Russian relations, despite being Trump’s official Middle East envoy.
He traveled to Russia as the first high-level US official since Ukraine’s invasion in 2022, making his trip the first one. In exchange for the US releasing imprisoned Russian Alexander Vinnik, he secured the release of imprisoned American Marc Fogel during this visit. Witzoff and Russian officials negotiated with them in Saudi Arabia, and Witkoff was also a member of the US team.
Trump claimed that Putin had made a “very promising statement, but it wasn’t complete” at the beginning of a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Thursday.
“We’re going to see whether Russia is present,” the statement read. And if not, the world will experience a very disappointing moment.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also stated to CNBC on Thursday that Trump is “willing to put the most pressure on both sides,” including imposing sanctions on Russia.
The US and its allies have imposed, among other things, at least 21, 692 sanctions on Russia since the start of the conflict in February 2022, targeting businesses including the media, the military, energy, aviation, shipbuilding, and telecommunications.
Following a White House meeting between Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the US temporarily suspended military assistance and intelligence sharing to Ukraine.
After the US and Ukraine reached a 30-day ceasefire agreement in Jeddah, aid and intelligence sharing was resumed.
What has Ukraine done?
Zelenskyy claimed that Putin is “preparing to reject” the ceasefire proposal in his nightly address posted on X on Thursday.
Putin reportedly feared telling President Trump that he wanted to keep killing Ukrainians and keep going on this war.
It would make sense for Russia to delay making a decision regarding the ceasefire, according to Marina Miron, a post-doctoral researcher at King’s College London’s defense studies department.
Time will pass “until the implementation of the ceasefire and everyone is on the same page,” Miron told Al Jazeera on Wednesday. This will likely allow the Russians to at least get Kursk back so that any potential negotiating bonuses for Ukraine are eliminated.
Zelenskyy continued, “Now is the time to put pressure on him]Putin.” Applications must be made that will work. The Ukrainian leader emphasized that his nation is willing to work with its US and European allies to advance the peace process.
Could Russia’s peace terms be accepted by the US and Ukraine?
It’s not clear. However, some experts think Trump’s track record suggests that the US might be able to address Putin’s concerns. In the event that something does go wrong, Ukraine might have no choice but to accept it.
According to Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow at the London-based Chatham House think tank, “If past performance is any guide,]Russia’s] demands will be supported by the US.”
Source: Aljazeera
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