Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to plans for a ceasefire with Ukraine by saying it would be “good for the Ukrainian side” to achieve one, but listed numerous questions showing his reluctance to agree to one right away. According to the BBC, in his remarks on Thursday at a news conference in Moscow, Putin focused on the Kursk region as well as the conditions of a ceasefire and how it would be monitored.
“The idea is right - and we support it - but there are questions that we need to discuss,” Putin said, claiming that he wants a ceasefire to “lead to "an enduring peace and remove the root causes of this crisis.”
Putin said that Russia may “need to negotiate with our American colleagues and partners," adding that he may “have a call” with President Donald Trump.
The BBC reports, “One of the areas of contention is Russia's Kursk region, Putin said, where Ukraine launched a military incursion last year and captured some territory. He claimed Russia was fully back in control of Kursk, and said Ukrainian troops there ‘have been isolated.’”
"They are trying to leave, but we are in control. Their equipment has been abandoned,” he said, adding that “There are two options for Ukrainians in Kursk - surrender or die."
Putin listed a number of questions regarding a ceasefire agreements asking: “How will those 30 days be used? For Ukraine to mobilise? Rearm? Train people? Or none of that? Then a question – how will that be controlled? Who will give the order to end the fighting? At what cost? Who decides who has broken any possible ceasefire, over 2,000km? All those questions need meticulous work from both sides. Who polices it?”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who drew strong criticism after his meeting with President Trump at the Oval Office last week, suggested that Putin is being nothing but manipulative with his words.
Putin "doesn't say no directly", Zelensky said, but "in practice, he's preparing a rejection.”
"Putin, of course, is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war, wants to kill Ukrainians,” Zelensky further argued, adding that Putin has set so many “pre-conditions” that it seems “nothing will work out at all.”
According to the BBC, Ukraine is seeking a two-stage process of moving towards an end to the war with the first stage being a ceasefire followed by the second stage of talks for a more long-term settlement, but Russia reportedly disagrees, suggesting that all should be figured out in one single deal.
President Trump has been very clear that he wants the war between Russia and Ukraine to end quickly. Trump has repeatedly pushed for peace while holding both sides accountable for coming to the negotiating table with the goal to achieve it.