Russia said it had serious reservations about a White House proposal for a truce with Ukraine as United States president Donald Trump urged the Kremlin to “do the right thing” and said talks had already taken place over what might be “kept and lost” in a potential peace deal.
Before talks in Moscow on Thursday night with US envoy Steve Witkoff, Russian president Vladimir Putin said he supported “the idea” of a 30-day truce that Ukrainian officials backed in negotiations on Tuesday with a US delegation in Saudi Arabia.
“But we proceed from the fact that the ceasefire should lead to long-term peace and remove the root causes of this crisis,” he added, referring to the Kremlin’s long-standing demands that Ukraine be demilitarised and barred from joining Nato and that eastern Europe’s security architecture be rebuilt in a way acceptable to Russia.
“What would happen during those 30 days? Would Ukraine be allowed to continue forced mobilisation and receive arms supplies ... Who will decide where there’s been a violation of the possible ceasefire deal along the 2,000km front line, and who will be blamed?” Mr Putin said.
“So the idea is good ... but there are issues we need to discuss and I think we need to negotiate with our American colleagues and partners, maybe a phone call with president Trump.”
In Washington, Mr Trump said Mr Putin had made “a very promising statement, but it wasn’t complete ... We know where we are with Ukraine, and we are getting good signals out of Russia as to where we are with Russia, and hopefully they’ll do the right thing”.
“Now we’re going to see whether or not Russia is there, and if they’re not, it’ll be a very disappointing moment for the world,” he added.
Mr Trump also revealed that talks had taken place on fundamental parts of a potential deal to halt Europe’s biggest war since 1945, which he pledged to end “in one day” while campaigning for a return to the White House last year.
“We’ve been discussing ... pieces of land that would be kept and lost, and all the other elements of a final agreement. There’s ... a very big power plant involved. Who’s going to get the power plant and who’s going to get this and that? It’s not an easy process, but phase one is the ceasefire.”
Mr Trump was probably referring to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station – the biggest in Europe – which Russian troops have controlled since 2022. It sits in occupied territory in southeastern Ukraine, just across the Dnipro river from Kyiv-held land.
The US leader also played down fears in Kyiv and many European states that any peace deal might not stop Mr Putin’s authoritarian regime from launching a fresh invasion of Ukraine or attacking nearby countries.
“When this gets done, it’s done, they’re going to all want to go home and rest,” he said. “I don’t see it happening. And we’ll make sure it doesn’t happen.”
Kyiv said Russia’s failure to match its quick and unconditional agreement to the US ceasefire proposal showed that Mr Putin was not ready to end his invasion.
“This once again demonstrates that Russia seeks to prolong the war and postpone peace for as long as possible,” said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy. “We hope that US pressure will be sufficient to compel Russia to end the war.”
Speaking in his evening address, Mr Zelenskiy said Mr Putin was “preparing a rejection” of the ceasefire proposal and he was “scared to tell president Trump that he wants to continue this war”.
