Putin backs truce idea but calls for more talks with u s

Putin backs truce idea but calls for more talks with u s

We agree with the proposals to cease hostilities, but this cessation should lead to long-term peace and eliminate the original causes of this crisis, Putin says, adding he might call Trump for talks.

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia agreed with U.S. proposals for a ceasefire in Ukraine but that any ceasefire would have to deal with the root causes of the conflict and that many details needed to be sorted out.

“We agree with the proposals to cease hostilities,” Mr. Putin told reporters at a news conference in the Kremlin following talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

“But we proceed from the fact that this cessation should be such that it would lead to long-term peace and would eliminate the original causes of this crisis.” Russian forces have been advancing since mid-2024 and control nearly a fifth of Ukraine's territory, three years into a war that U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will halt. Mr. Trump had said in the White House on Wednesday that he hoped the Kremlin would agree to the U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine said it would support, to end what Trump called the "bloodbath".

Mr. Putin thanked Mr. Trump for his efforts to end the war. “The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it,” Mr. Putin said. “But there are issues that we need to discuss. And I think we need to talk to our American colleagues as well.” Mr. Putin said he might call Mr. Trump to discuss the issue. “We support the idea of ending this conflict by peaceful means.”

He noted that Ukrainian troops are encircled in their last foothold in Russia’s Kursk region, and it’s necessary to determine before a ceasefire whether they will lay down weapons and surrender.

He also noted the need to develop a mechanism to control possible breaches of the truce. Another issue, he said, is whether Ukraine could use the 30-day ceasefire to continue mobilization and rearmament.

Mr. Putin noted that while it appeared that the U.S. persuaded Ukraine to accept a ceasefire, Ukraine is interested in that because of the battlefield situation, noting that Ukrainian troops that launched an incursion into Russia’s Kursk region would be fully blocked in the coming days. “In these conditions, I believe it would be good for the Ukrainian side to secure a ceasefire for at least 30 days,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that it recaptured the town of Sudzha, a Ukrainian operational hub in Kursk, hours after Mr. Putin visited his commanders in Kursk.