Moscow: If Donald Trump was thinking that he would be able to stop the three-year-old Russia-Ukraine war soon, the US President may have to rethink his strategy.
A 30-day ceasefire has been proposed by the US to pause the war in Ukraine, which President Volodymyr Zelensky said they would support.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aide said on Thursday that he had told Washington that the 30-day ceasefire plan will simply give Ukraine’s forces a welcome respite from the battlefield.
Yuri Ushakov, a former ambassador to Washington who speaks for Putin on major foreign policy issues, said that he had spoken to America’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz to outline Russia’s stance on the proposed ceasefire.
“I stated our position that this is nothing other than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more,” Reuters quoted Ushakov as saying.
“Our goal is a long-term peaceful settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country and our well-known concerns. It seems to me that no one needs any steps that (merely) imitate peaceful actions in this situation,” he added.
Trump’s Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Thursday to meet Putin, after Russian officials said Waltz had provided details on the ceasefire plan and were was ready to discuss it.
Trump said on Wednesday that he hoped Kremlin would agree to his proposal.
But Ushakov’s views won’t be music to Trump’s ears.
Ushakov said President Putin was likely to speak to the media later and outline Russia’s position in more detail.
