Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday backed the US-brokered 30-day truce in Ukraine but insisted on more talks to resolve the root causes of the conflict.
“We support the proposal for a ceasefire, but if it is for long-term peace and the solution of the core problems of this crisis,” Putin said at a press conference in Moscow with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
The ceasefire proposal, launched by the US and supported by Kyiv, aims to put an end to fighting on land, sea, and air for 30 days. But Putin emphasized that the ceasefire has to be something greater than a temporary suspension of hostilities.
The Russian president also mentioned that Russian troops were moving forward on almost all fronts in Ukraine. He proposed that remaining issues be settled with US representatives, perhaps even through a phone call with President Donald Trump.
“Our troops are advancing in virtually every sector of the front line,” Putin said. “But we also need to discuss key issues with our American partners, perhaps even over a phone call with President Trump.”
In the meantime, Trump’s Middle East special envoy, Steve Witkoff, had traveled to Moscow on Thursday for talks with Putin. US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz had explained details of the ceasefire plan to Russian authorities a day earlier, and Moscow welcomed more negotiations.
Trump, on Wednesday, was hopeful that the Kremlin would accept the ceasefire proposal, threatening that he had economic sanctions at his disposal in case Russia did not.
“I want peace, but if it’s necessary, I can take financial steps that would be very bad for Russia,” Trump stated. “We’ll see how it goes, but economically we could do some things that would be disastrous.”
