The war aims that Putin set out to achieve have simply not been achieved at the moment. There’s not enough there for him to walk away and claim any form of victory,
A ceasefire can’t be based only on political statements,
Historians underestimate the role of human exhaustion in making historical decisions,
Putin is very dangerous when he’s directly talking to Trump,
Russians don’t want a ceasefire unconditionally – they have been saying it for a long time,
They are not saying it explicitly, but the idea is that with Ukraine as it is now, with Zelenskyy in power, there won’t be a deal, there will be nothing. Ukraine must admit it has lost the war, it has no chances to reverse the military situation, and that the only way to get out is to start talking to Russians about Moscow’s peace terms,
It may not be 30 days; it could take a bit longer. However, it is crucial that a specific time frame is set in the ceasefire agreement. This will limit the chances for the Russians to turn it into an endless frozen conflict,
But we understand that there will be many different 'buts' to put Ukraine in a weaker situation. And America's position is critical here. If the ceasefire is complete, then without any ‘buts’. Everyone's position should be clear, transparent, truthful, without losing the dignity of the parties,
There were no additional conditions at the meeting in Saudi Arabia. Everyone was thrilled that, first of all, the two countries were together, which was a serious step forward. Second, that Ukraine had taken such a serious diplomatic step. And everyone was also pleased. Let America now make Putin take the first step. Then we will discuss all the other steps,
The idea itself is correct, and we
We agree with the proposals to halt the fighting, but we proceed from the assumption that the ceasefire should lead to lasting peace and remove the root causes of the crisis
We had very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end,
The situation in the Kursk region is obviously very difficult,
We are sympathetic to President Trump's call,
There is no threat of our units being encircled,
If they lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and dignified treatment,
I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared. This would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since World War II,
We’ll know a little bit more on Monday, hopefully, good."
Putin wants Trump to believe that Putin is interested in a deal,
Russia is aiming for a ceasefire that would lead directly to peace talks,