BBC News
Russia is ready for a halt in fighting, says Vladimir Putin, but “there are nuances”. Those nuances that he laid out ahead of talks with US envoys at the Kremlin on Thursday are so key to his thinking they could scupper any hope of a 30-day ceasefire.
They are demands that he has had throughout Russia’s full-scale invasion, and before. And for Ukraine and its Western partners, many of them are going to prove unacceptable or impossible to fulfil.
“We agree with the proposals to cease hostilities,” he started positively, only to add: “This cessation must be such that it would lead to long-term peace and eliminate the root causes of this crisis.”
Nobody would disagree with the need for long-term peace, but Putin’s idea of the root causes of the war revolve around Ukraine’s desire to exist as a sovereign state, beyond Russia’s orbit.
Ukraine wants to be part of Nato and the European Union – so much so, it is enshrined in the constitution.
President Trump has already cast doubt on Nato membership, but Putin has repeatedly dismissed the idea of Ukraine as a state at all.
And that underpins many of the nuances he sketched out.
He wants to stop Ukraine from reinforcing its army and replenishing its weapons supply – so there would be no more deliveries from the West. He wants to know who would ensure that was verified.
From the start of this war, Putin has demanded the “demilitarisation” of Ukraine, which is anathema to Kyiv and its allies.
In essence, Putin is looking for security guarantees in reverse.
Would Russia agree to halt rearming or mobilising its forces? That seems implausible and there was no hint of any concession on his part, as he addressed reporters in the Kremlin.
Putin has just come back in bullish mood from a visit seemingly close to the front line in Kursk, a Russian border region that has been partially occupied since last August by Ukraine.
Russia has the upper hand in Kursk. Putin clearly feels he is negotiating from a position of strength and doesn’t want to lose it.
“If we stop military actions for 30 days, what does that mean? Will everyone who is there leave the battle?”
Russia’s defence ministry announced on Thursday that its forces had now taken full control of the biggest city the Ukrainians had managed to seize, Sudzha. Putin says all the Ukrainians have left is a wedge, so why would Russia stop now?
“If a physical blockade occurs in the coming days, no-one will be able to leave at all. There will be only two options – to surrender or die.”
The same applied to the whole of the 1,000km (620-mile) front line, where he claimed the situation on the ground was changing rapidly, with Russian troops “advancing in practically all areas”.
That is not the case, as most of the front is at a stalemate, even if Russia has had some recent success in the east.
Putin believes a 30-day ceasefire would deprive Russia of its advantage and enable the Ukrainians to regroup and rearm.
“What are our guarantees that nothing like that will be allowed to happen,” he asked rhetorically.
As yet, no mechanism has been offered to ensure that the terms of any ceasefire would hold.
Although 15 Western countries have tentatively offered peacekeeping troops, they would only come in the event of a final peace deal, not a ceasefire.
Not that Russia would allow that arrangement anyway.
Given all these “nuances”, Putin appeared to be sceptical of how a ceasefire could benefit Russia, especially when his troops were on the front foot. His entire outlook was “based on how the situation on the ground develops”.
Putin had been due to meet Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff late on Thursday, but no details emerged and Russian reports suggested Witkoff had left Moscow in the early hours of Friday.
Ultimately, the most important conversation for Putin will be with the US president.
“I think we need to talk to our American colleagues… maybe have a phone call with President Trump and discuss this with him,” he said.
Putin’s aim was to set out his stall, with a message that the road to a ceasefire was littered with conditions that would be almost impossible to meet.
