Putin agrees with US proposal for ceasefire with Ukraine

 

Putin agrees with US proposal for ceasefire with Ukraine

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia supports in principle a US proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine, but that any ceasefire must address the root causes of the conflict and that many details need to be worked out.

Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that conditions need to be worked out. He stressed that this should pave the way for lasting peace.

Russia wants Ukraine ceasefire agreement, will meet Putin soon: President Trump

Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine left thousands of people dead and injured, millions displaced, towns reduced to rubble and sparked the harshest confrontation between Moscow and the West in decades.

Putin’s strong support for the US proposal for a ceasefire appears to be a signal of goodwill to Washington and an opening to further talks with the US president. But the more explanations and conditions Putin has attached to it to reassure Moscow, the more likely a ceasefire seems unlikely. “We agree with the proposals for a de-escalation of the conflict. This idea itself is correct and we certainly support it,” Putin told reporters at a news conference in the Kremlin after talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

"But we will move forward with the reality that this ceasefire leads to lasting peace and addresses the root cause of this crisis," he added.

He listed a list of issues that needed clarification and thanked President Donald Trump, who said he wanted to be remembered as a peacemaker for his efforts to end the conflict. Both Moscow and Washington now see it as a deadly proxy war that could escalate into World War III.

Trump, who said he was open to speaking to the Russian leader by phone, called Putin's statement "very encouraging." He said he hoped Moscow would do the right thing.

The West and Ukraine view Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine as an imperialist-style occupation of land and have repeatedly vowed to defeat Russian forces. Russian forces control about a fifth of Ukraine and have been advancing into the country since mid-2024.

Putin describes the conflict as part of a war for survival, which he says has been humiliated by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the expansion of NATO's military alliance and encroachment on Russian spheres of influence, including Ukraine.

President Trump hopeful for ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine

Trump said his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, was in Moscow for serious talks with the Russians about a US proposal, to which Kiev has already agreed.

Ukraine is likely to view Putin's stance as an attempt to buy some respite, as Russian troops are withdrawing the last Ukrainian troops from western Russia and Moscow is holding out on demands that Kiev sees as an attempt to defeat it.

European powers fear that Trump could turn his back on Europe for a big deal with Putin.

Putin has said that Russian forces are advancing on all fronts and that Ukraine can use the ceasefire to reorganize itself.

He said that how and how we will be guaranteed that nothing like this will happen. And how the ceasefire will be organized. These are all serious questions.

He added that these issues need to be discussed and I think we should also talk to our American colleagues.

Putin said that he could call Trump to discuss the matter.