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 will most probably delay any truce — or might make one unattainable to attain.
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 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 overseas coverage in Russia’s favor, has emerged as a key geopolitical partner 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’s going to not work out for so long as potential.”
Mr. Putin’s feedback got here earlier than he was to satisfy 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 stored up its momentum within the key battle in the Kursk region of Russia, the place Moscow’s forces appeared near pushing Ukraine out of the territory it seized final summer time. Such a growth would cut back Kyiv’s leverage in future peace talks.
“The thought itself is the proper one, and we undoubtedly assist 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 way of with our American colleagues and companions.”
Mr. Putin instructed that his situations would come with limits to Ukraine’s potential to mobilize extra troops and import weaponry throughout a cease-fire — restrictions that will put Kyiv at a deeper drawback if the combating restarted.
Mr. Putin’s feedback had been the primary concerning the cease-fire supply that emerged from negotiations between the United States 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 indicate that he was participating 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 may “have a name with President Trump and discuss it over with him.” When requested in a while Thursday if he would communicate with the Russian president, Mr. Trump mentioned he would “love to satisfy” and discuss with him.
“We’d wish to see a cease-fire from Russia,” Mr. Trump instructed 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 will be stored and misplaced, and all the different components of a closing settlement,” Mr. Trump mentioned, including, “A variety of the main points of a closing settlement have truly been mentioned.”
Mr. Putin seems eager to remain on Mr. Trump’s good facet, 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 might 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 Japanese Europe, hadn’t modified, although it wasn’t clear if he would make them a stipulation for a monthlong cease-fire.
Mr. Zelensky referred to 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 handle.
Mr. Putin was simple in declaring {that a} fast truce could be higher for Ukraine than for Russia.
“In these situations, it appears to me that it might be superb for the Ukrainian facet 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 an alternative organize them “to easily give up.”
Ukraine surprised 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 main town 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 combating. If confirmed, such a retreat would go away solely small pockets of Russian land alongside the border underneath Ukrainian management.
Mr. Putin additionally instructed he may 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 examine,” he mentioned.
Whereas Mr. Putin’s situations could also be unattainable for Ukraine to just accept, he didn’t repeat his onerous demand from final yr {that a} cease-fire would depend on Ukraine’s withdrawing from the four Ukrainian regions 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, referred to as Mr. Putin’s new calls for “very harmful for Ukraine.”
In impact, she argued, Mr. Putin was pushing for a state of affairs through 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 this time implies that the West can’t 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.
