Putin Likely to Drag Out Ukraine Truce Talks to Seek Terms

Описание: Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to agree to a truce with Ukraine, but only if his conditions are met beforehand, which may drag out negotiations. Putin wants to ensure his stipulations are taken into account before agreeing to a ceasefire, which may include a halt to weapons supplies to Ukraine and Ukraine becoming a neutral nation. The US and Ukraine have agreed to a truce proposal, but Russia finds the framework unacceptable, and Putin is unlikely to accept it without significant changes. Bloomberg's Oliver Crook Reports.

To achieve that, he’ll try to stretch out the timeline for agreeing to any halt to fighting in Ukraine, other people with knowledge of the situation said. 

Russian officials hadn’t discussed with their US counterparts the specific deal that a Ukrainian delegation agreed to in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah on Tuesday, and the Kremlin finds that framework unacceptable, one person said.

The agreement between US and Ukrainian officials presents a dilemma for Putin, who has so far escaped the type of high-pressure campaign the White House had waged against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Still, the outline of the deal reached in Jeddah doesn’t do what Russia has previously said it needs in order to halt the fighting — address the parameters of a more long-term settlement to the war Putin started in February 2022. 

The Kremlin also might demand a halt to weapons supplies to Ukraine as a condition for the ceasefire, one of the people close to the Kremlin said.

“Putin won’t give a hard ‘yes’ or a hard ‘no,’” Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said in a phone interview. “Even in a fantastic situation where Putin makes some gestures toward a truce, it would still be a temporary one and with very harsh conditions.” 

Russia has previously demanded that Ukraine become a neutral nation, significantly reduce the size of its armed forces and cede territory, starting with the land Russia has seized in the war. 

In return for Ukraine’s acceptance of the US truce proposal, the Trump administration agreed to lift a freeze on military aid and intelligence for Kyiv.

President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Wednesday that he hoped it wouldn’t be necessary to pressure Putin to accept the ceasefire deal. 

“People are going to Russia right now as we speak, and hopefully we can get a ceasefire from Russia,” Trump said. “And if we do, I think that would be 80% of the way to getting this horrible bloodbath done.” 

US envoy Steve Witkoff was due to travel to Moscow to meet with Putin, Bloomberg News reported earlier. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Moscow was waiting for details of the agreement but didn’t rule out a phone call between the two leaders. 

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Moscow to accept the terms in comments on Wednesday and said Ukraine’s ability to deter Russia in the future would be part of the conversation. 

“There’s different ways to construct a deterrent on the ground,” he told reporters in a press conference at Shannon Airport, Ireland, on Wednesday. “How that looks, and how that’s put together, that’s what we’re going to talk about.” 

Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that Ukraine’s partners will need to help monitor any ceasefire if Russia eventually comes on board.

“It’s clear for us how to monitor it,” he told reporters in Kyiv. “But given it’s silence everywhere — and realizing who we are dealing with — and having the experience of past years, technical assistance is required.”

Putin has repeatedly brushed aside Trump’s bid for a quick halt to the war. During his annual news conference in December, he said: “We don’t need a truce — we need peace: long-term, durable, with guarantees for the Russian Federation and its citizens.”

Putin’s forces continued their major offensive to drive Ukraine out of Russia’s Kursk region, which Zelenskiy had hoped to use as a bargaining chip in any peace talks.

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