Russia has offered a conditional yes to a proposed 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine put forward by Washington and Kyiv. The Kremlin acknowledged the temporary truce, discussed during Tuesday’s summit in Jeddah, as a positive step — but warned it risks becoming a mere pause that allows Ukrainian forces to regroup.
“We don’t want a 30-day truce, we want lasting peace,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday during a joint press conference in Moscow with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. While Putin described the ceasefire proposal as “correct,” he emphasized that key issues still need to be ironed out with Washington — potentially “through a phone call with President Donald Trump.”
Putin insisted that mechanisms must first be established to monitor any violations of the ceasefire, and guarantees must ensure Kyiv does not use the break to rearm. “We agree with the proposals to stop the fighting, but we believe the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and address the root causes of the crisis,” Putin stated.
The remarks struck a notably more optimistic tone than those from his adviser, Yuri Ushakov, who earlier Thursday voiced skepticism during an interview with Olga Skabeeva on the state-run VGTRK network. “No one needs steps that only simulate peaceful actions in this situation,” Ushakov said, echoing the Kremlin’s long-standing stance: no temporary solutions to the conflict.
Ushakov reiterated that a final agreement must reflect Moscow’s strategic interests and “security concerns.” These include recognition of Russian sovereignty over the four eastern and southern Ukrainian regions unilaterally annexed by Putin in late 2022 — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson — along with Crimea, annexed in 2014, and a formal renunciation of Ukraine’s NATO membership ambitions. According to sources cited by Reuters, Moscow sees these conditions as prerequisites for any peace talks with Kyiv.
Reacting to Putin’s comments, Donald Trump expressed cautious optimism, calling Russia’s statements “good signals” and reiterating his willingness to speak with Putin. “(Putin) put out a very promising statement, but it wasn’t complete,” Trump said Thursday at the start of a White House meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. “Now we’re going to see whether or not Russia’s there. And if they’re not, it’ll be a very disappointing moment for the world.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff — who has now effectively replaced his colleague Keith Kellogg as the administration’s go-to figure for Moscow relations — landed in the Russian capital Thursday morning. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explained Wednesday that Witkoff’s visit aims to “press Russia to agree to a ceasefire and stop its brutal war against Ukraine.”
The Saudi summit also yielded another significant outcome beyond the 30-day ceasefire proposal: Washington agreed to resume weapons deliveries and intelligence-sharing with Kyiv. Both had been halted two weeks earlier by Trump, aiming to push Ukraine into negotiating an end to the war with Russia — a move following the heated February showdown between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office over Kyiv’s willingness to pursue peace.
According to reports from Russian opposition outlet Verstka, Putin’s hardline stance is designed to sideline Ukraine from talks and pressure the U.S. into direct negotiations with Moscow — buying time and strengthening Russia’s battlefield position. From the Kremlin’s perspective, any ceasefire that allows Ukraine to continue receiving arms and funding from its allies would be “an unforgivable mistake.”
A leaked document from a think tank linked to Russia’s FSB, reportedly obtained by a European intelligence service and cited by The Washington Post, outlines Moscow’s long-term expectations: the conflict could drag on for at least another year, positioning the Kremlin to impose its demands from a position of strength. These include recognition of sovereignty over occupied territories, the creation of a buffer zone along the Russia-Ukraine border, and a demilitarized zone in southern Ukraine near Odesa and Crimea.
The report, said to have been published in February, also rejects the notion of keeping Ukraine’s current government in power, calling both a pledge to stay out of NATO and potential elections involving pro-Russian parties insufficient. Moscow further rules out any future Western military support for Kyiv, aiming instead to enforce a partial dismantling of Ukraine’s armed forces.
Putin’s strategy appears to hinge on exploiting tensions among the U.S., China, and the EU to weaken Western unity and strengthen Moscow’s bargaining position. Among the more surprising proposals reportedly floated — and hinted at by Putin himself — is an offer to let Washington access mineral resources in occupied territories in exchange for normalizing bilateral relations.
On the battlefield, Russia continues to hold the upper hand. Russian forces have now captured the town of Sudzha, in the Kursk region, which Ukrainian troops have held since August 2024. Elite units, including the 11th Airborne Brigade (VDV) and the GRU’s 2nd Spetsnaz Brigade, were reportedly involved in the fighting. Russian estimates suggest Kyiv now controls just 120 square miles in Kursk — down from approximately 800 square miles at the height of last summer’s counteroffensive.
Heavy fighting continues in several areas, including Basivka, Sverdlikovo, and Guyevo, where Russian forces are working to consolidate gains and create a buffer zone in Sumy Oblast. Putin himself visited the front, wearing a military camouflage uniform, and ordered troops to “completely destroy the enemy” while treating all prisoners of war as “terrorists.”
