Putin supports Ukraine conflict ceasefire as US envoy visits Moscow

Russia supports the idea of ending the hostilities in the Ukraine conflict, but needs any potential ceasefire to facilitate a long-term peace, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

Speaking during a bilateral meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko Putin noted “We agree with the proposals to cease hostilities. But… this cessation must be such that it would lead to long-term peace and eliminate the initial causes of this crisis.”

Moscow has a number of questions about the US ceasefire proposal that will need to be raised in upcoming talks, Putin explained.

“I think that we need to discuss this with our American colleagues and partners,” he said.

“Maybe we could discuss this with President Trump over the telephone,” the Russian leader added.

Notwithstanding, Russia supports the idea of diplomatically ending the conflict, he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow is in favor of a ceasefire, but has numerous questions about its practical implementation.

The Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk Region are cut off, and it would be unclear what is to be done with them in the event of a truce, he said.

”Are we supposed to let them out, after they committed mass war crimes against civilians? The Ukrainian leadership could tell them to lay down their arms, and just surrender,” the Russian president said.

It is also unclear how the ceasefire would be monitored and enforced, he added.

It is unclear how amenable the US is to Russian demands about demilitarizing and denazifying Ukraine, Yevgeny Primakov, the head of the Russian agency for international cooperation, Rossotrudnichestvo, has said.

”Under any circumstances, Ukraine must not pose a threat to Russia,” he said.

”This means we must prevent any risks of revanchism, which logically entails that Ukraine should not maintain offensive military capabilities or embrace an aggressive Nazi ideology aimed against Russia,” Primakov stressed. This would entail dismantling several social and political institutions active in Ukraine, as well as reforming its education system, he added.

It is unclear how willing the US is to consider these issues, Primakov said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is not expected to hold a telephone conversation with Trump on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has told reporters.

FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump. ©  Kremlin Press Office / Handout / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with Witkoff behind closed doors this evening, presidential aide Yury Ushakov has told Izvestia.

Russian political analyst Sergey Markov has warned that any ceasefire in Ukraine will be exploited by the West to rearm Kiev's “political regime,” ramp up its conscription drive, as well as strengthen its repressive and anti-Russian nature.

Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin has said Trump is not ready to “unilaterally” withdraw from the Ukraine conflict, and “risks getting increasingly bogged down,” despite the US president’s apparent eagerness to wind down hostilities.

Read more

‘A ceasefire only benefits those who are retreating’: Russia’s top foreign relations experts and actors react to US-Ukraine talks

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky may have had success in manipulating the previous US administration of President Joe Biden, but he has apparently not managed the same with President Donald Trump, according to the vice speaker of Russia’s Federation Council, Konstantin Kosachev.

“The outcome of the US-Ukraine talks in Jeddah reveals a clear truth: Zelensky’s attempts to make ‘the tail wag the dog’ may have worked with Biden, but not with Trump,” Kosachev said, stressing that the ceasefire deal terms have so far been set by the US alone.

Given Russian troops’ advances on the battlefield, “dealings with Russia will be different,” Kosachev said.

“Any agreements – and we recognize the need for compromises – will come on our terms, not America’s,” he stated, adding that “real agreements are still being forged on the front lines.”

Washington is unlikely to “trick” Moscow with a ceasefire proposal, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told Russia 1 TV journalist Olga Skabeeva on Thursday.

“It will not be a trick… because we know what we need and they know what we want,” he said, adding that in the event of a ceasefire, there will no “movement” in the Ukraine conflict.

Despite this, the Ukrainian “economy will still work, the military-industrial complex will work, they'll produce weapons,” and receive “weapons from abroad,” Lukashenko said.

Nevertheless, “Ukrainians will most likely not agree to this,” the Belarusian leader said, adding that Kiev expects Russia to refuse.

The US has no real plan for the Ukraine conflict, Belarusian leader Lukashenko told the media in Moscow on Thursday, on the sidelines of his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Instead, the US may have general outlines about “stopping the war” and is “testing the waters” with its ceasefire offer, he added.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. © Sputnik / Kristina Kormilitsyna

Moscow and Washington both agree that Ukraine becoming a NATO member is “not under discussion,” Russian presidential aide Ushakov has said.