Volodymyr Zelenksy says Vladimir Putin’s response to a proposed Ukraine ceasefire is “very predictable” and “very manipulative” after the Russian leader said “there are issues we need to discuss”
Volodymyr Zelenksy called Vladimir Putin’s words as “very predictable” and “very manipulative” after the Russian leader spoke out about Ukraine ceasefire plans.
The Ukrainian leader said Putin is preparing a rejection of the ceasefire proposal and said he is “afraid to say directly to President Trump that he wants to continue this war”.
Putin said that he agrees in principle with a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but he emphasized that the terms are yet to be worked out and noted 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.”
Trump’s ceasefire plan
US arms deliveries to Ukraine resumed Wednesday a day after the Trump administration lifted its suspension of military aid for Kyiv in its fight against Russia’s invasion, and officials awaited the Kremlin’s response to a proposed 30-day ceasefire endorsed by Ukraine.
Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, who led the American delegation to Saudi Arabia, where Ukraine consented to the US ceasefire proposal, said Washington will pursue “multiple points of contacts” with Russia to see if Putin is ready to negotiate an end to the war. The US hopes to see Russia stop attacks on Ukraine within the next few days as a first step, Rubio said.
What Zelensky said
And now Zelensky speaking this evening said: “Putin, of course, is afraid to say directly to President Trump that he wants to continue this war, he wants to kill Ukrainians. That’s why they in Moscow are framing the idea of silence with such preconditions that nothing will happen at all or that it will not happen for as long as possible.”
He rejected Putin’s words as “just another Russian manipulation” while at the same time saying that Ukraine does not “set conditions that complicate anything”. “As we have always said, the only one who will drag things out, the only one who will be unconstructive, is Russia,” said Zelensky. “They want a war. Putin has stolen years of peace and continues this war – day after day.”
Meanwhile, Trump said there have been “good signals” coming out of Russia and offered guarded optimism about Putin’s statement. He reiterated that he stood ready to speak with Putin and underscored that it was time to end the war.
Putin “put out a very promising statement, but it wasn’t complete,” Trump said Thursday at a start of a meeting at the White House with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. “Now we’re going to see whether or not Russia’s there. And if they’re not, it’ll be a very disappointing moment for the world.”
Putin “put out a very promising statement, but it wasn’t complete,” Trump said. “Now we’re going to see whether or not Russia’s there. And if they’re not, it’ll be a very disappointing moment for the world.”