Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has slammed his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over the latter’s response to the US’s 30-day ceasefire, describing it as “manipulative”. Calling for more sanctions on Moscow, Zelenskyy further claimed that Putin is actually preparing to reject the truce deal but is afraid to say it directly to US President Donald Trump.
“He is in fact preparing a rejection at present, because Putin is of course scared to tell President Trump that he wants to continue this war, that he wants to kill Ukrainians,” the Ukrainian President, whose recent visit to the White House turned into a shouting match with Trump, said in an address.
Zelenskyy further alleged that Putin’s unwillingness to pause the fighting is the reason why he has set conditions to the ceasefire proposal, so that “nothing happens at all, or so that it cannot happen for as long as possible”, news agency Reuters reported.
He added that a ceasefire would provide time to prepare answers to all questions regarding a “long-term security and a real, reliable peace, and put on the table a plan to end the war”.
Putin said on Thursday that Russia backed the US proposal in principle, but sought several clarifications and conditions. He added that multiple details must be sorted out before a consensus can be reached on the deal and that it should address the root causes of the conflict.
“We agree with the proposal to cease hostilities [in Ukraine] but proceed from the assumption that this cessation must be of the kind that should lead to long-term peace and eliminate the root causes of this crisis,” he told reporters at the Kremlin following talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko as tweeted later by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The Russia-Ukraine war has killed thousands and displaced millions since it started in February 2022. Putin’s remarks appeared to rule out an immediate end to the fighting.
Putin, however, thanked Trump for the US President’s efforts for a ceasefire. Meanwhile, Trump called the Russian President’s comments “very promising” and said he hoped they would do the “right thing”.
“At this moment, we have people talking in Russia, we have representatives over there, Steve Witkoff and others. They’re in very serious discussions,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
Trump also said that he was willing to talk to Putin over phone.
The US President warned Russia on Wednesday about financial repercussions if it failed to uphold the truce deal brokered during Kyiv and Washington negotiations in Saudi Arabia.
Over the recent days, Russia pressed with its offensive in the Kursk region against Ukrainian forces. Russian officials claimed to have driven the Ukrainian Army out of the biggest town in Kursk.
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