Vladimir Putin is unlikely to accept the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, Russian sources told Reuters on Wednesday, adding that any agreement must take into account Russian military successes and address Moscow's concerns.
The agency's interlocutors believe that without guarantees in addition to the ceasefire, Russian positions may become significantly weaker, and then Western countries will blame Moscow for the inability to end the conflict. Another high-ranking Russian official said that the proposal for a temporary ceasefire looks like a trap for the Kremlin, as it would be difficult for Russia to stop hostilities without specific guarantees or promises. According to another source, the overall picture is that the US agreed to resume military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine and "embellished this step with a ceasefire proposal".
On Tuesday, the United States agreed to resume military assistance and intelligence sharing after Kyiv stated it was ready to support the ceasefire proposal. A senior Russian source told Reuters that Russia needs to agree on the terms of any ceasefire and receive some guarantees.
The agency's interlocutors believe that "Putin has a strong position because Russia is advancing." It currently controls just under a fifth of Ukraine and has been advancing for several months. Ukraine captured part of the Kursk region in August as a bargaining chip, but its grip there is weakening, according to open-source war maps and Russian assessments.
Putin has repeatedly ruled out the possibility of a short-term ceasefire. "We do not need a truce, we need a long-term peace, ensured by guarantees for the Russian Federation and its citizens. How to ensure these guarantees is a complex issue," he said in December.
In June last year, Putin put forward his peace terms: Ukraine must officially renounce its NATO ambitions and withdraw its troops from all the territory of the four Ukrainian regions claimed by Russia. According to Russian estimates, Russia controls 75% of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions and more than 99% of the Luhansk region.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Russia will not accept NATO troops "under any flag, in any capacity on Ukrainian soil".
Russian state television "Russia 24" stated that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's statements about Ukraine's readiness for negotiations look "quite naive," and an influential Russian legislator said that any peace will be concluded on Moscow's terms.
Photo: Reuters