Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Moscow was in favour of the principle of a ceasefire in the war against Ukraine, as proposed by the Donald Trump administration in the United States, but raised questions he said the Kremlin needed answers to before it could commit to a truce.
He said Russia needed to discuss these questions and the terms of a peace proposal with the US.
His comments, the first on the proposed ceasefire, drew criticism from Ukraine and a muted response from Trump, who has oscillated between expressing confidence in Putin’s commitment to a peace deal and threatening Russia with new sanctions if it does not agree to a ceasefire.
Here is what Putin said, the conditions he laid out for Moscow to back a ceasefire, and how the US and Ukraine have reacted to his recent statement:
What is the US-Ukraine ceasefire deal?
On Tuesday, teams representing Washington and Kyiv met in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah to negotiate terms for peace in Ukraine.
After this meeting, the two countries released a joint statement, proposing an “immediate, interim” 30-day ceasefire on the war front.
The statement placed emphasis on “the exchange of prisoners of war, the release of civilian detainees, and the return of forcibly transferred Ukrainian children” during the ceasefire period.
The document did not mention sanctions on Russia or security guarantees for Ukraine, but it did mention that Ukraine’s European allies would be “involved in the peace process”.
The document also did not specify what would happen with the Ukrainian soldiers in Russia’s Kursk.
What did Putin say about the ceasefire?
Nothing, for almost two days.
Then, on Thursday, at a news conference alongside Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Putin responded to the ceasefire proposal.
He said the idea of a ceasefire was “correct” and Russia supported it, in principle. “We agree with the proposals to cease hostilities,” he told reporters in Moscow.
But, he added, “there are issues that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to talk about it with our American colleagues and partners, and, perhaps, have a call with President Trump and discuss it with him.”
What ‘issues’ does Putin want resolved before a ceasefire?
The Russian president outlined three questions and suggested that resolving them in a manner satisfactory to Moscow would be preconditions for the Kremlin to accept a ceasefire.
How will the Kursk incursion play out?
The first question Putin posed pertains to Ukrainian troops in the Russian region of Kursk.
In August last year, the Ukrainian army launched a surprise incursion into Kursk, seizing territory.
While the Russian army has now reclaimed 1,100 square km (425 square miles) of Kursk – almost the whole area that Ukrainian forces had grabbed – Kyiv’s troops are still present.
“Will all those who are there come out without a fight? Or will the Ukrainian leadership order them to lay down arms and surrender?” Putin questioned.
Will Ukraine mobilise troops and receive new weapons during the ceasefire?
Putin also suggested that a 30-day ceasefire could be used by Ukraine to mobilise new forces at a time when its troops are facing setbacks not just in Kursk but also in eastern Ukraine, where Russia has made slow, grinding gains in recent months.
During the news conference, Putin said “Russian troops are advancing in almost all areas of the front… So how will these 30 days be used? For forced mobilisation to continue in Ukraine, for weapons to be delivered there, for the newly-mobilised units to be trained? … How can we and how will we be guaranteed that nothing like that will happen? How will control be organised?”
Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy adviser, also said on Thursday that the 30-day pause in fighting would only help Ukrainian troops regroup, deeming the ceasefire a “temporary respite” for the Ukrainian army.
In recent months, Ukraine has suffered manpower shortages. In Ja