A US delegation travels to Moscow to discuss the ceasefire with the Kremlin.

MoscowThe proposal for a 30-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 Dmitri Peskov urged, although a few hours later, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that they would contact the Russian government this Wednesday.

Washington is hopeful that a ceasefire will soon be put on track. In fact, US President Donald Trump stated this afternoon from the Oval Office that a US delegation "is traveling to Russia as we speak." "We hope that we can get a ceasefire from Russia. If we do, I think that will be 80% of the way to ending this horrible bloodbath," the US leader said. When asked by the press if he would consider pressuring Moscow to accept the ceasefire, Trump made it clear that he hopes "that won't be necessary," but did not rule out imposing measures "that would not be pleasant in a financial sense," a scenario that, he says, would be "very bad for Russia."

But, for now, the Kremlin is not commenting. The reservations of its spokesperson 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 welcomed seeing 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 statement confirmed by independent military analysts. Russian troops arrived Wednesday morning in the center of Sudja, the largest town still controlled by Ukrainian troops and which they had been trying unsuccessfully to reconquer for seven months. With the loss of this territory, Zelensky is left without any trump cards to exchange in the peace talks. The only reaction, so far, has been to dismiss the commander in charge of the operation on that front.

The advance of Russian troops in Kursk has coincided with the halt in the provision of intelligence data by the United States in UkraineHowever, in recent hours, Poland has confirmed that, as a result of Tuesday's agreement in Saudi Arabia between Kiev and Washington, the Ukrainian military 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 very 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 a chance to feel "more secure" at the negotiating table. One of the most widely followed political analysis channels by the ruling party, Pul N3, does believe that Putin will be open to discussing a ceasefire, but to agree, he will require that his conditions be met. Military analysts at Vatfor also demand that Russia agree to halt the attacks only if Russian inspectors ensure that no weapons are leaving US bases to supply Ukrainian forces.

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 continued unabated, even after Trump's threat of new sanctions, 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 move forward with dialogue and has welcomed the fact that Washington has questioned Zelensky's willingness to achieve peace. Now, 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."

Dialogue between the United States and Russia has continued in recent days, although the pace has not been at what it had been in the first few weeks. The Kremlin denied that the White House had arranged a call between Trump and Putin, although it did not rule out that one could take place once they know the details of the proposal to halt the fighting.