KEY POINTS
- A high-level US delegation arrived in Moscow for Ukraine ceasefire talks
- Senior Russian officials called the proposal a temporary relief for Ukraine
- US and Ukraine push for a truce, but Russia has yet to give a formal response
- Russia is expected to present its own demands
- Moscow rejected any deployment of foreign peacekeeping forces in Ukraine
- Top Kremlin aide warned against a rushed ceasefire that does not consider Russia’s security concerns
- Russian forces recaptured key settlements in the Kursk region
MOSCOW: A high-level US delegation on Thursday arrived in Moscow for talks with Russian officials on a proposed 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, as Washington pushes for a temporary truce to end the three-year war.
Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported on Thursday that a plane carrying US envoy Steve Witkoff had landed in Moscow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the talks, but refrained from commenting on Russia’s stance before negotiations commenced.
“Before the talks start, and they haven’t started yet, it would be wrong to talk about it in public,” Peskov told reporters.
Russia’s reservations on ceasefire proposal
Despite the diplomatic engagement, the Kremlin has signalled scepticism towards the proposed ceasefire, with senior Russian officials suggesting the plan favours Ukraine and does not address Moscow’s key security concerns.
Top Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said he had spoken to US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz on Wednesday, outlining Russia’s reservations.
“I stated our position that this is nothing other than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more,” Ushakov told state television, adding that Russia was seeking a long-term peace settlement rather than a temporary cessation of hostilities.
He further warned against any “hasty” ceasefire deal that does not account for Moscow’s interests, saying, “It will be necessary to work on it, think and take into account our position.”
US and Ukraine push for truce
The ceasefire proposal, reportedly accepted by Ukraine during talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia earlier this week, is being promoted by US President Donald Trump, who has expressed optimism about securing an agreement.
“If we can get Russia to stop, then we have a full ceasefire. And I think it’ll never go back to war,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed frustration at Moscow’s lack of an official response.
“Regrettably, for more than a day already, the world has yet to hear a meaningful response from Russia to the proposals made,” Zelensky wrote on social media.
“This once again demonstrates that Russia seeks to prolong the war and postpone peace for as long as possible.”
Russia’s conditions and demands
Russia is expected to present its own set of demands before engaging in substantive ceasefire negotiations, Al Jazeera reported.
Russia has also firmly ruled out the deployment of foreign peacekeeping forces in Ukraine, a proposal Kyiv has reportedly discussed with European allies.
“It is absolutely unacceptable to us that army units of other states are stationed in Ukraine under any flag,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.
Trump’s administration remains eager to broker a ceasefire. However, Russian officials, including Ushakov, continue to cast doubt on Washington’s approach.
“A peaceful settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country—that is what we are striving for,” Ushakov said.
Russian military gains in Kursk
As diplomatic efforts unfold, Moscow continues to make battlefield gains. The Russian Ministry of Defence claimed on Thursday that Russian forces had recaptured the town of Sudzha in the Kursk region, along with several other settlements.
ALSO READ: Russia Says Kursk Operation in Final Stage as US Seeks Ukraine Ceasefire
President Vladimir Putin, dressed in military fatigues, visited the region on Wednesday, stressing the importance of eliminating Ukrainian resistance.
“Our task in the near future, in the shortest possible timeframe, is to decisively defeat the enemy entrenched in the Kursk region,” Putin said, as reported by Russian state media.
The Kursk region has been a key flashpoint since Ukrainian forces launched a cross-border incursion into western Russia last August.
Military analysts have suggested Ukraine’s territorial holdings in the area were one of its few bargaining chips in any negotiations with Moscow.
Andrey Kortunov, a Moscow-based foreign policy analyst and member of the Valdai Discussion Club, said that Putin’s visit was a strategic message.
“His message is that whatever Ukraine still controls in the Kursk region cannot be used as a kind of leverage to make any territorial claim during the talks,” Kortunov said.
