Putin agrees in principle with proposal for Ukraine ceasefire

A Ukrainian serviceman stands amid debris in an abandoned area in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region. Pic/AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he agrees in principle with a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but he emphasised that the terms are yet to be worked out and added that any truce should pave the way to lasting peace.

"The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it," Putin told a news conference in Moscow. "But 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."

Washington and Ukraine endorsed a 30-day temporary truce after a meeting between their respective delegations in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. US President Donald Trump said there have been "good signals" coming out of Russia and offered guarded optimism about Putin's statement. He reiterated that he's ready to speak with Putin and underscored that it was time to end the war.

Meanwhile, Putin on Thursday also thanked world leaders, including President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their "noble mission" to end the fighting between Ukraine and Russia.

US drops envoy from talks

President Trump's special envoy for Russia-Ukraine negotiations, Keith Kellogg, has been excluded from high-level discussions aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, according to news reports. A Russian official said that Kellog did not attend the US-Russia summit in Riyadh on February 18 because Putin thought the "former American general was too pro-Ukraine".

‘Russia manipulating deal'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused President Putin of manipulating the ceasefire proposal, stating that Moscow is crowding the idea with preconditions designed to delay or derail progress. In a post on X, Zelensky said, "Right now, we have all heard from Russia Putin's highly predictable and manipulative words in response to the idea of a ceasefire on the front lines - at this moment he is, in fact, preparing to reject it." Zelensky argued that while Ukraine has accepted the US-backed proposal for an unconditional ceasefire on land, at sea, and in the air, Russia continues to create obstacles to avoid a resolution.

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