MoscowThe proposal for a thirty-day ceasefire in Ukraine agreed between Kiev and Washington It has been received in Moscow with a mixture of caution, mistrust, and, in some cases, firm opposition. For weeks, prudence has guided the Kremlin's position. The Russian government has preferred not to comment on the meeting between the Ukrainian and US delegations in Saudi Arabia, arguing that it wants to wait for the White House to provide full details. "We're not getting ahead of ourselves," spokesman Dmitry Peskov requested.
Washington is hopeful of soon putting a ceasefire on track. In fact, US President Donald Trump stated this afternoon that a US delegation was traveling to Russia at the time they spoke. "We hope to get a ceasefire from Russia. If we do that, I think it will be 80% of the way to ending this horrible bloodbath," the US leader said. Trump could even consider pressuring Moscow with sanctions to force it to accept the ceasefire. However, he has said he hopes "that won't be necessary," but has not ruled out imposing measures "that would not be pleasant in a financial sense," a scenario he claims would be "very bad for Russia."
The White House has confirmed that its national security adviser, Mike Waltz, spoke with his Russian counterpart on Wednesday; and that US envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow this week for talks on a ceasefire with Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is trying to take advantage of Washington's improved tone to obtain some reassurances. President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he expects "big steps" from the US administration if Moscow rejects the proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, with further measures "to strengthen Ukraine." He has placed the responsibility for the progress of the negotiations on Russia. "It depends on whether they are willing to make [peace] or rather are willing to continue killing people," he said.
Strategic silence from the Kremlin
But for the moment, the Kremlin is not commenting. Its spokesperson's reservations are in line with the strategic silence that has characterized Vladimir Putin since the resumption of contacts with the United States. This restraint pursues several objectives: on the one hand, until now, the Russian president has had enough with being a spectator of the disagreements between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, and he has been pleased to see how The United States pressured Ukraine to the point of withdrawing military aid.On the other hand, Russia is in no hurry. The Kremlin has stumbled upon an unexpected international rehabilitation that it needs to consolidate, and more important than peace in Ukraine is ensuring successful relations with the Americans. Likewise, on the war front, Putin wants to take advantage of every inch of ground regained to come to the negotiating table with the best possible cards.
Moscow has always maintained a position against a ceasefire, arguing that the only thing it would do is give Ukraine a breath of fresh air on the battlefield. The Kremlin only showed itself willing to talk about halting the fighting once negotiations were on track and it had been ensured that "the root causes of the conflict were eliminated," that is, that its demands were met, achieving "a long-term peace." Therefore, it is not surprising that political reactions to the truce proposal have been skeptical, if not downright contrary. For example, Federation Council Deputy Speaker Konstantin Kosachev maintains that any agreement to resolve the Ukraine crisis "must be signed on Russian terms, not American ones" and that "the real agreements are being written at the front."
Ukraine withdraws from Kursk
The Russian side feels that it has the upper hand and that it does not suit it to run, largely because the success of the offensive in the Russian region of Kursk, occupied since August by the Ukrainian army. Russia claims that Kiev's troops are withdrawing from the area they control, a claim denied by the commander of any of the Ukrainian forces, Oleksandr Sirsky. Despite acknowledging Russian advances on the front, Sirsky declared that his men will hold their defensive positions "as long as necessary." With the loss of Kursk, Zelensky would be left without any trump cards to trade in the peace talks.
The advance of Russian troops in Kursk has coincided with the halt in the provision of intelligence data by the United States in UkraineThe only reaction, so far, has been to dismiss the commander in charge of the operation on that front. However, in recent hours, Poland has confirmed that, as a result of Tuesday's agreement in Saudi Arabia between Kiev and Washington, the Ukrainian army has once again begun receiving US weapons across its border.
Putin, forced to move
Although The wind blows in Putin's favor on the battlefieldAnalysts close to the Kremlin believe that this time it cannot afford to reject the Ukrainian and US proposal outright. Propagandist Alexander Yunachev suggests that the strategy will be to "not completely lock oneself into contacts," avoid "being accused of not wanting to negotiate," and "stretch out the timeframe as much as possible." In this way, Putin hopes to give soldiers on the ground more leeway so that Russia feels "more secure" at the negotiating table.
Distrust of the United States remains rife among Russian elites despite reciprocal praise and celebration of the new administration's radical shift. For now, the courtship of convenience has advanced unalterably, but differences over the ceasefire could pose the first obstacle to this renewed relationship. Russia has made efforts to present itself as the only party willing to advance in dialogue and has applauded the fact that Washington has questioned Zelensky's willingness to achieve peaceNow, however, it is the US Secretary of State who warns that if Moscow does not accept the temporary ceasefire, "he will make his intentions clear."
Putin makes his presence felt from the Kursk region, where he travels for the first time since the Ukrainian incursion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has opted for diplomatic silence, but he hasn't sought to raise a profile with an unprecedented trip to the Kursk region of Russia, where Kiev's troops are losing part of the territory they captured this August in a surprise operation. Dressed in military uniform, Putin visited an army command center and celebrated his troops' advances in the region, in front of state television cameras. "We will finally defeat the enemy entrenched in the Kursk region in the shortest possible time," he declared in response to a report from Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov that Ukrainian troops are surrounded. "Their systematic destruction is underway," Gerasimov said.
Putin also warned that Russia will treat any Ukrainian soldiers it captures in the Kursk region as terrorists. "The people who are in the Kursk region, who commit crimes against civilians here, who oppose our armed forces, law enforcement agencies, and special services, are people we should definitely treat as terrorists," the Kremlin leader threatened, while warning that he does not intend to extend the threat to the Kursk region.