Vladimir Putin has signalled support for a 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine, and overseas investors are welcomed on day two of the Infrastructure Investment Summit. Video / NZ Herald
Vladimir Putin supports a truce with Ukraine but has concerns about its implementation.
He questions how a 30-day ceasefire would be supervised and its impact on Russian offensives.
Putin suggests discussing the plan with Donald Trump to address these issues.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he backed the idea of a truce with Ukraine, but said he had “serious questions” about how it would be implemented that he wanted to discuss with Donald Trump.
He was responding to a joint US-Ukrainian plan for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine that US special envoy Steve Witkoff is due to present to Russian officials later Thursday.
“We agree with proposals to cease hostilities, but on the basis that that cessation would lead to long-term peace and addresses the root causes of the crisis,” Putin told a press conference in Moscow.
“If we stop hostilities for 30 days, what does that mean? That everyone who is there will go out without a fight?... How will supervision [of the ceasefire] be organised? These are all serious questions.
“I think we need to talk to our American colleagues ... Maybe have a phone call with President Trump and discuss this with him,” he told reporters.
Responding to Putin’s statements, Trump said that it would be “a very disappointing moment for the world” if Russia rejects a peace plan in the Ukraine conflict.
“He put out a very promising statement but it wasn’t complete,” Trump, who was meeting NATO chief Mark Rutte at the White House, told reporters when asked about Putin’s remarks.
“I’d love to meet with him or talk to him. But we have to get it [a ceasefire deal] over with fast.
Traditional Russian wooden nesting dolls, Matryoshka dolls, depicting Russia's President Vladimir Putin (right), and US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania are displayed for sale at a gift shop on the touristic Arbat street in downtown Moscow. Photo / AFP
“A lot of the details of a final agreement have actually been discussed. Now we’re going to see if Russia is there and, if not, it will be a very disappointing moment for the world.”
Trump also gave a glimpse of the negotiations for a longer-term peace after any ceasefire, including what territory Ukraine would have to give up to Russia.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“We have not been working in the dark. We’ve been discussing with Ukraine land and pieces of land that would be kept and lost,” he said.
He added that there was also “a very big power plant involved - who’s going to get the power plant?”
Trump did not give any specifics but the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, currently held by Russia, is on the front lines of the fighting. It is Europe’s largest nuclear power station.
A view shows a damaged apartment building in a residential complex following a drone attack in the village of Sapronovo in the Moscow region. Photo / AFP
Meanwhile, Ukraine said it had ordered the mandatory evacuation of eight villages near the border with Russia’s Kursk region, where Moscow’s troops have recently pushed back Kyiv’s forces.
The Sumy region’s military administration said on Facebook that “a decision was made to conduct a mandatory evacuation of the population from eight settlements” due to “the exacerbation of the operational situation in the region” and “constant shelling by Russia”.
He said Russian troops were advancing in practically all areas of the front line, and that Moscow would decide its “next steps” based on his forces' success in kicking Ukrainian troops out of Kursk.
