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 more than likely delay any truce — or may make one unattainable to realize.
Mr. Putin’s feedback throughout a information convention highlighted the stability he was making an attempt to strike, exuding confidence in Russia’s place on the battlefield whereas searching for to proceed talks with america 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 companion for Mr. Putin.
In sharp remarks later within the day, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine stated the Russian chief set so many circumstances “that nothing will work out in any respect or that it’s going to not work out for so long as doable.”
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 stated Mr. Putin had additionally spoken by cellphone 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 within the Kursk area of Russia, the place Moscow’s forces appeared near pushing Ukraine out of the territory it seized final summer time. Such a growth would scale back Kyiv’s leverage in future peace talks.
“The concept itself is the proper one, and we positively assist it,” Mr. Putin stated, referring to the cease-fire proposal. “However there are questions that we have to focus on, and I believe that we have to speak them via with our American colleagues and companions.”
Mr. Putin instructed that his circumstances would come with limits to Ukraine’s skill to mobilize extra troops and import weaponry throughout a cease-fire — restrictions that may 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 america and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia this week. They instructed that the Russian chief considered that proposal as simply part of a broader negotiation between Washington and Moscow, and that he was keen to indicate that he was partaking with Mr. Trump’s efforts to finish the struggle that Mr. Putin started together with his full-scale invasion three years in the past.
Mr. Putin stated he would possibly “have a name with President Trump and speak it over with him.” When requested afterward Thursday if he would converse with the Russian president, Mr. Trump stated he would “love to fulfill” and speak with him.
“We’d prefer to see a cease-fire from Russia,” Mr. Trump informed reporters whereas assembly with the NATO secretary basic, Mark Rutte, within the Oval Workplace.
Mr. Trump stated america had mentioned with Ukraine doable concessions as a part of a peace settlement. “We’ve been discussing with Ukraine land and items of land that may be stored and misplaced, and all the different components of a closing settlement,” Mr. Trump stated, including, “Loads of the main points of a closing 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 might be to Russia’s benefit to attract out the negotiations.
He stated on Thursday that Russia would proceed to insist on a peace deal that addressed the “unique causes” of the struggle — suggesting that his push for main Western concessions, comparable to a discount of NATO’s presence in Jap 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 stated in his night deal with.
Mr. Putin was simple in declaring {that a} fast truce can be higher for Ukraine than for Russia.
“In these circumstances, it appears to me that it might be superb for the Ukrainian aspect if there have been a cease-fire, even for 30 days,” Mr. Putin stated. “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 stated that Russia wouldn’t enable these troops to peacefully withdraw and that the Ukrainian management may as a substitute get them organized “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 stated 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 combating. If confirmed, such a retreat would depart solely small pockets of Russian land alongside the border underneath Ukrainian management.
Mr. Putin additionally instructed he would possibly demand that Ukraine’s Western allies halt arms deliveries, and stated 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 examine,” he stated.
Whereas Mr. Putin’s circumstances could also be unattainable for Ukraine to just 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 absolutely management.
Nonetheless, Dara Massicot, a Russian army specialist on the Carnegie Endowment for Worldwide Peace, which is predicated 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 by which the West wouldn’t be capable of assist Ukraine rebuild its armed forces whereas Russian factories pumped out new weaponry.
“What Putin stated in the present day implies that the West can not assist Ukraine whereas Russia regenerates,” she stated.
Reporting was contributed by Maria Varenikova from Kyiv, Ukraine; Marc Santora from Dnipro, Ukraine; Paul Sonne from Berlin; and Eric Schmitt from Washington.
