Russian President Vladimir Putin has a provided guarded response to a United States proposal to arrange a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Putin said on Thursday that Russia supported U.S. proposals for an end to the war but any ceasefire would have to deal with the causes of the conflict and many details needed to be sorted out.
"We agree with the proposals to cease hostilities. But we proceed from the fact that the cessation should be such that it would lead to long-term peace and would eliminate the original causes of this crisis,” he was quoted in a Reuters story as saying.
Media reports suggested the Russian leader had presented a list of demands to the U.S. in response to its plan for a 30-day truce, the exchange of prisoners of war, the release of civilian detainees, and the return of forcibly transferred Ukrainian children to Russia.
Although Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he would accept a ceasefire as a first step toward peace talks, he also claimed Putin was preparing to reject it but was too scared to tell the U.S. President directly.
Zelenskyy, speaking in his evening address, said Russia was setting conditions on a ceasefire in order to delay it, or make it not happen at all.
"That's why in Moscow they are imposing upon the idea of a ceasefire these conditions, so that nothing happens at all, or so that it cannot happen for as long as possible," Zelenskyy was quoted as saying during his evening address.
Putin said “there are issues that we need to discuss” including who would give the ceasefire order and monitor compliance and he questioned if the truce would allow Ukraine to re-arm itself as Russian troops advanced
“Maybe I should call President Trump and have a discussion with him. But we support the idea of ending this conflict by peaceful means,” Putin said.
Trump said during a press briefing on Thursday: “We’re getting word that things are going OK in Russia, that doesn’t mean anything until we hear what the final outcome is.
“Hopefully they all want to end this nightmare.”
Reuters reported that although it was unclear what Moscow’s demands included or whether it would discuss peace with Kyiv prior to their acceptance, people familiar with them described them as broad and similar to previous demands.
They included no NATO membership for Ukraine, an agreement not to deploy foreign troops in the country, and international recognition of Putin's claim that Crimea and four provinces belonged to Russia.
