Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy chief, speaking on Thursday, stated that a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States would only provide a temporary reprieve for Ukraine’s military, rather than a lasting solution to the conflict.
Russia’s military buildup along the front in recent months and US President Donald Trump’s attempts to broker a peace deal to end the three-year conflict in Ukraine have raised concerns in the West that Kiev, supported by the West, might lose the war.
Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, met with Putin in Moscow on Thursday to discuss the proposed ceasefire. Russian officials said that US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz had briefed them on the details of the proposal on Wednesday and that Russia was willing to discuss it.
Trump had stated on Wednesday at the White House that he hoped the Kremlin would agree to the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine claims to support.
Yuri Ushakov, a former ambassador to Washington who speaks for Putin on key foreign policy issues, told state television that he had spoken with Waltz on Wednesday to present Russia’s position on the ceasefire.
“Our goal is a long-term peaceful solution that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country and our well-known concerns” Ushakov said, adding that, in his view, no one needs steps that only imitate peaceful actions.
The adviser also stated that Putin would address the media later on Thursday to elaborate on Russia’s position.
On a question from Reuters about a report that Russia had presented a list of demands to the US for a peace deal to end the conflict in Ukraine and restore relations with Washington, Ushakov replied that the White House was aware of Moscow’s position.
The deployment of European peacekeeping troops to Ukraine, in the view of the Russian government, would mean the entry of a “direct armed conflict” with Russia. “It is absolutely unacceptable for us that military units of other states, under any flag, be stationed in Ukraine” said the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, on Thursday. Russia would react with “all available means.