PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin has said that fighting could not be stopped until several key conditions were addressed, despite Russia’s support for a United States (US) proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Putin’s support for the planned ceasefire proposal came after President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, held talks on Thursday, March 13, with Russians in Moscow on the US ceasefire deal, which Kyiv has already agreed to.
Putin said that any agreement must tackle what Moscow considered the root causes of the conflict, a key condition that indicates a ceasefire could take longer than Trump desires.
“We agree with the proposals to cease hostilities,” Putin told reporters at the Kremlin. “The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it. 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.”
The Russian leader has said that he wanted Ukraine to abandon its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ambitions. He also demanded that Russia have full control over the four Ukrainian regions it controlled in Ukraine, and for Ukraine’s military size to be restricted.
He has also emphasised his desire for Western sanctions to be eased and for a presidential election to be held in Ukraine, though Kyiv argued that holding elections under martial law was premature.
Putin outlined ceasefire-related issues that he said required clarification and expressed gratitude to Trump for his efforts to end the conflict.
Trump, who said he was willing to talk to Putin by phone, called Putin’s latest position on the war “very promising” and said he hoped Moscow would “do the right thing.”
However, Zelenskiy said he thought Putin was preparing to reject the ceasefire proposal but was afraid to tell Trump.
“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,” Zelenskiy said in a video address Thursday night.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues.