Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, has now reportedly stated that Moscow would not consent to an instantaneous ceasefire with Ukraine, despite the fact that Moscow’s military quickly advanced in its efforts to expel Ukrainian forces from the Kursk region.
He stated that Ukraine would benefit from any halt in hostilities at this time and that Russia desired a ceasefire that would result in “a lasting peace and the elimination of the root causes” of the conflict, which he characterized as a crisis.
Putin’s remarks were Moscow’s first formal reaction to a suggestion this week that Ukraine, supported by the United States, accept to a 30-day halt in the war, which is currently in its fourth year.
According to two U.S. officials, they arrived as Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s special envoy, was on his way to Moscow to discuss the cease-fire plan.
The Russian president was under pressure to show that he was willing to work toward peace after the cease-fire offer was brokered in Saudi Arabia this week.
Putin emphasized on Thursday that Russia was amenable to a cease-fire and that he wanted the war to stop, but he also brought up a long list of complicated problems that he claimed had to be settled before Moscow would approve such a step.
Putin stated that it was unclear whether Ukraine would have the opportunity to strengthen its forces and how such a cease-fire would be implemented.
Weeks after Moscow’s full-scale conflict with Ukraine broke out, in April 2022, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators drafted a pact that outlined many of the “root causes” Putin identified.
According to that text, Russia’s invasion that year was justified as a defense against NATO expansion, and it envisioned a disarmed, permanently neutral Ukraine that was not affiliated with any military blocs after the war.
Moscow is adamant about retaining at least the 18% of Ukrainian territory that it currently controls, which is the size of the state of Virginia.
In order to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, it seeks to undo actions that have marginalized Russian cultural influence there.
Russia currently has little motivation to halt the conflict as its army advances on the battlefield and retakes territory Ukraine had intended to use as a negotiating chip.
[READ MORE: Trump Seeks to End Career of GOP Maverick Thomas Massie]
