Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he backs the idea of a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine but proposed direct talks with US President Donald Trump to flesh out what a pause in the conflict would deliver.
Mr Putin said the truce proposal "in itself is correct and we support it", but added there were "questions that need to be discussed", including what happens while fighting is paused. He used a meeting with Belarusian President and ally Alexander Lukashenko to make his first public remarks on the idea that emerged from US-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
Issues for the Kremlin include the fate of Ukrainian troops in Russia's Kursk region, where Moscow believes it has them surrounded, and in eastern Ukraine where Russian troops have made advances and are wary of letting Ukrainian troops resupply.
"How are they going to use these 30 days?" Mr Putin said. "I think we need to discuss this with our American partners. Maybe we need to have a call with President Trump and discuss this. The idea in itself to stop this conflict in a peaceful way, that’s something that we support."
US envoy Steve Witkoff was in Moscow on Thursday to present the ceasefire plan to Russian officials in the latest act of high-wire diplomacy on Ukraine. Mediators in Saudi Arabia and Europe have sought to put peace talks back on track after Mr Trump's public row with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy two weeks ago.
The ceasefire plan put forward in US-Ukraine talks in Jeddah on Tuesday called for an initial 30-day ceasefire that could be extended if the two sides agree. The US agreed to resume military aid and intelligence sharing with Mr Zelenskyy's government after Ukrainian negotiators signalled they could back the plan.
After Mr Putin's meeting with Mr Lukashenko on Thursday, Saudi state news agency SPA reported that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Mr Putin in a phone call that the kingdom remains committed to facilitating talks and supporting a political resolution to the Ukraine conflict.
Russian position
Mr Putin said in the meeting with Mr Lukashenko that Russia's willingness to back a ceasefire depended on it being the first step in a peace plan that "removes the initial reasons for the crisis". He ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, claiming the Nato-backed country posed a threat to Russia and was persecuting Russian speakers in the east of the country.
A foreign policy aide for Mr Putin, Yuri Ushakov, had earlier said Russia wanted a long-term solution and not a temporary pause in hostilities, according to pro-Kremlin media. Mr Trump has threatened to "do things financially that would be very bad for Russia" if it does not agree to the terms.
Moscow is already under sprawling western sanctions because of the war but believes it has gained the upper hand in fighting in Kursk and eastern Ukraine. Russian forces could encircle Ukraine's troops in Kursk within days, at which point "there will be two ways to leave, either to die or to surrender", Mr Putin warned at a joint press conference with Mr Lukashenko.
He said it was unclear whether the truce proposal would allow the surrounded Ukrainians to "leave without a fight", raised the question of how a ceasefire would be monitored along the front line and asked whether Kyiv's troops would use the 30-day pause to supply weapons or mobilise new units. "All of these are questions that need to be thoroughly studied on both sides," Mr Putin said.
Mr Zelenskyy chided Russia on Thursday for what he said was its slow response to the ceasefire proposal, accusing Moscow of trying to delay any peace deal. He said Ukraine was “determined to move quickly towards peace” and hoped US pressure would compel Russia to stop fighting.
Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte was the latest visitor to Mr Trump's White House on Thursday, where the US President praised him for doing a "fantastic job". Mr Trump has been ratcheting up anti-Nato rhetoric, hinting he might not defend members who do not meet defence spending targets.