Russian sources on Wednesday reacted warily to a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire supported by Kyiv, saying that any deal to end to the war in Ukraine would have to take into account the Russian advances and address Moscow’s concerns.
Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine has left hundreds of thousands of dead and injured, displaced millions of people and triggered the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
US president Donald Trump has reversed previous US policy on Russia, opening up bilateral talks with Moscow and suspending military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, saying it must agree to terms to end the war.
The United States agreed on Tuesday to resume military aid and intelligence sharing after Kyiv said it was ready to support a ceasefire proposal.
[ US says ‘ball in Russia’s court’ after Ukraine agrees to 30-day ceasefireOpens in new window ]
A senior Russian source told Reuters that president Vladimir Putin would find it difficult to agree to the ceasefire idea without hashing out terms and getting some sort of guarantees.
“It is difficult for Putin to agree to this in its current form,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, told Reuters. “Putin has a strong position because Russia is advancing.”
The source said that without guarantees alongside a ceasefire, Russia's position could swiftly become weaker and that Russia could then be blamed by the West for failing to end the war.
Another senior Russian source said that the ceasefire proposal looked from Moscow's perspective to be a trap because Putin would find it hard to halt the war without some concrete guarantees or pledges.
[ Dizzying turnaround in US-Ukraine relations leaves all eyes on RussiaOpens in new window ]
A third Russian source said the big picture was that the United States had agreed to resume military aid and intelligence sharing and had decorated that move with a ceasefire proposal.
The Kremlin has yet to comment.
Mr Putin said in December: “We don’t need a truce, we need a long-term peace secured by guarantees for the Russian Federation and its citizens. It is a difficult question how to ensure these guarantees.” – Reuters
