Putin noncommittal on Ukraine ceasefire, stressing need to address ‘nuances’

Vladimir Putin has broken his silence on Washington’s proposed 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, which was announced on Tuesday, voicing neither his support for nor his opposition to the measure at a press conference with Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday.

Putin thanked US President Donald Trump for “paying such close attention to the Ukrainian settlement” and noted that while Moscow supported the ceasefire in principle, there were still “nuances” that needed to be ironed out before any agreement could be reached.

Putin added that while it might seem that Ukraine was being “pressured” by Washington into agreeing to its ceasefire proposal, it was in fact the other way around, as Ukraine continued to lose ground in the Kursk region and would benefit from any cessation of hostilities.

Should a ceasefire deal be reached, Putin said it wasn’t “clear” to him if the Ukrainians deployed in the Kursk region would be able to “leave without a fight” after committing “numerous crimes against civilians”, or if they would surrender to the Russians. Another concern, Putin said, was the situation on the frontline in Ukraine, where he said Russia was continuing to advance “in nearly all areas”.

“How would those 30 days be used?” Putin asked, wondering if Ukraine would continue to mobilise troops, train its soldiers, or receive weapons during that time. “How will we be guaranteed that nothing like this will happen? Who will give orders to stop hostilities, and what is the price of these orders?” Putin asked.

Putin’s comments echoed the position outlined by his aide Yury Ushakov earlier on Thursday, who said that the ceasefire would only “give the Ukrainians an opportunity to regroup” and was “of no use” to Russia, given Moscow’s continued advance in the Kursk region, where earlier on Thursday, it claiming to have recaptured the town of Sudzha, which had been occupied by Ukraine since its incursion into Russian territory began seven months ago.