On March 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed appreciation for a US-backed cease-fire in Ukraine, but did not agree to the framework.
Putin stated that any cease-fire would have to address the underlying causes of the war, and that many specifics needed to be worked out before Moscow would agree to halt its assault.
“We agree with the proposals to cease hostilities,” Putin told reporters at a Kremlin news conference. “But we proceed from the fact that this cessation should be such that it would lead to long-term peace and would eliminate the original causes of this crisis.”
In the past, Putin has demanded that Ukraine be permanently barred from joining NATO and that no foreign power ever station troops on Ukrainian soil.
Those lofty goals are short of Putin’s original stated objectives for the invasion, which included the complete demilitarization of Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on March 12 that he hoped the Kremlin would agree to the proposal for a 30-day cease-fire to end what Trump called the “bloodbath” in Ukraine.
Aside from the immediate cease-fire proposal, Russia has offered the United States with a list of conditions for a settlement to halt its conflict against Ukraine and restore relations with Washington.
Putin said that if Moscow and Washington could reach an agreement on energy cooperation, gas deliveries to Europe might restart, following Russia's loss of its major position as Europe's principal supplier during the conflict.
He also stated that Russia would welcome Western firms back if they wished to return, but that markets had been taken over by domestic manufacturers and that Moscow would not make any special provisions for Western companies.
Ukraine has raised worries that Russia may utilize the truce to regroup and rearm.
via March 13, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy chastised Russia via the Telegram messaging app for what he saw as a sluggish reaction to the cease-fire request, accusing Moscow of attempting to prolong any peace agreement. He stated that Ukraine is "determined to move quickly toward peace" and that he anticipated that US pressure will force Russia to cease hostilities.
Zelenskyy has already agreed to the cease-fire agreement, following a days-long suspension in US aid to the impoverished country.
The US agreed on March 11 to restart military supply and information cooperation with Ukraine after Kyiv indicated during negotiations in Saudi Arabia that it was willing to back a cease-fire agreement.
Since Zelenskyy accepted Trump's plan, Russia has escalated its attacks on Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk area.
Russia says that its soldiers have drove the Ukrainian army out of Kursk, a vital town where Moscow has been attempting to drive Ukrainian forces out for seven months.
Although Ukrainian forces only controlled a tiny portion of Kursk, the territory is crucial since control of it will determine whether Kyiv has a negotiating chip with which to convince Moscow to restore some of Ukraine's conquered regions.
Putin also stated that he favors "the idea of ending this conflict by peaceful means" and plans to discuss the subject further with US negotiators.
“The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it,” he said. “But there are issues that we need to discuss. And I think we need to talk to our American colleagues as well.”
Putin’s remarks come just hours after Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, landed in Moscow to take part in negotiations about a potential cease-fire in Ukraine.
Putin’s top foreign policy aide told Russian state media earlier in the day that Washington’s proposed 30-day cease-fire would simply give Kyiv’s forces a much-needed rest and time to regroup.
“It gives us nothing,” said Yuri Ushakov, a former ambassador to Washington who speaks for Putin on major foreign policy issues. “It only gives the Ukrainians an opportunity to regroup, gain strength and, to continue the same thing.”
Trump has made ending the war in Ukraine a top policy priority, vowing on the campaign trail to end the conflict on "day one" of his presidency.
Trump reacted later on March 13, stating that Putin's statements were a positive start but insufficient, and that he could meet with Putin to finalize the arrangement.
“I’d love to meet with him and talk to him, but we have to get it over with fast,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“Hopefully, they’ll do the right thing.”
Earlier in the week, Trump suggested that he could unleash more severe economic sanctions against Moscow if it would not cooperate on a cease-fire deal.
“I can do things financially that would be very bad for Russia,” Trump said. “I don’t want to do that because I want to get peace. In a financial sense, yes, we could do things that would be very bad for Russia, that would be devastating for Russia.”
