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 circumstances that may almost definitely delay any truce — or might make one not possible to realize.
Mr. Putin’s feedback throughout a information convention highlighted the steadiness he was making an attempt to strike, exuding confidence in Russia’s place on the battlefield whereas searching for 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 overseas coverage in Russia’s favor, has emerged as a key geopolitical accomplice for Mr. Putin.
In sharp remarks later within the day, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine mentioned the Russian chief set so many circumstances “that nothing will work out in any respect or that it’ll not work out for so long as attainable.”
Mr. Putin’s feedback got here earlier than he was to fulfill with Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s Center East envoy, to debate the cease-fire proposal that Ukraine had already agreed to. As of early Friday Moscow time, the Kremlin had not commented on how the assembly went. However the Kremlin mentioned Mr. Putin had additionally spoken with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto chief of Saudi Arabia, about Ukraine.
Mr. Putin’s remarks got here as Russia saved up its momentum within the key battle within the Kursk area of Russia, the place Moscow’s forces appeared near pushing Ukraine out of the territory it seized final summer season. Such a improvement would scale back Kyiv’s leverage in future peace talks.
“The thought itself is the appropriate one, and we positively assist it,” Mr. Putin mentioned, referring to the cease-fire proposal. “However there are questions that we have to focus on, and I believe that we have to discuss them by way of with our American colleagues and companions.”
Mr. Putin instructed that his circumstances 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 preventing 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 instructed 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 participating with Mr. Trump’s efforts to finish the warfare 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 wish to see a cease-fire from Russia,” Mr. Trump informed reporters whereas assembly with the NATO secretary common, Mark Rutte, within the Oval Workplace.
Mr. Trump mentioned the US had mentioned with Ukraine attainable concessions as a part of a peace settlement. “We’ve been discussing with Ukraine land and items of land that may be saved and misplaced, and the entire different parts of a remaining settlement,” Mr. Trump mentioned, including, “A number of the main points of a remaining settlement have really 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 warfare — suggesting that his push for main Western concessions, corresponding to a discount of NATO’s presence in Japanese 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 immediately that he desires to proceed this warfare, desires to kill Ukrainians,” he mentioned in his night deal with.
Mr. Putin was easy in declaring {that a} fast truce can be higher for Ukraine than for Russia.
“In these circumstances, 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 might as a substitute get them organized “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 primary city in Kursk that Ukraine had seized. Ukrainian officers haven’t confirmed a retreat from the city, the place Wednesday evening Kyiv’s army reported fierce preventing. If confirmed, such a retreat would depart solely small pockets of Russian land alongside the border beneath Ukrainian management.
Mr. Putin additionally instructed he would possibly demand that Ukraine’s Western allies halt arms deliveries, and mentioned it was not clear how the cease-fire can be monitored alongside a entrance line of some 700 miles.
“These are all questions demanding very cautious research,” he mentioned.
Whereas Mr. Putin’s circumstances could also be not possible for Ukraine to simply accept, he didn’t repeat his onerous demand from final 12 months {that a} cease-fire would rely upon Ukraine’s withdrawing from the 4 Ukrainian areas that Russia had declared as its personal however didn’t totally management.
Nonetheless, Dara Massicot, a Russian army specialist on the Carnegie Endowment for Worldwide Peace, which relies 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 during which the West wouldn’t be capable of assist Ukraine rebuild its armed forces whereas Russian factories pumped out new weaponry.
“What Putin mentioned at the moment implies that the West can not assist 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.
