Quotes
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,
said Gen Everard, who served as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe for Nato between 2017-2020
A ceasefire can’t be based only on political statements,
said Fesenko
Putin is very dangerous when he’s directly talking to Trump,
said the Kyiv-based political analyst Volodymyr FesenkoHistorians underestimate the role of human exhaustion in making historical decisions,
Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign ministry, wrote on Facebook after the talksRussians don’t want a ceasefire unconditionally – they have been saying it for a long time,
she saidThey 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,
she saidIt 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,
the president said
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,
he saidThere 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,
he said
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
Putin said
The idea itself is correct, and we
Putin told a news conference in Moscow
We must move toward peace, toward security guarantees, and we need to free our people. We are determined to work as quickly as possible with our partners. The key factor is our partners' ability to ensure Russia's readiness not to deceive but to genuinely end the war. Because right now, Russian strikes have not stopped."
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X
We’ll know a little bit more on Monday, hopefully, good."
He also added
Russia is aiming for a ceasefire that would lead directly to peace talks,
said Anton Barbashin
Putin wants Trump to believe that Putin is interested in a deal,
commented Anton Barbashin, a political scientist and editor-in-chief of the analysis website Riddle Russia
Trump has few options to counter either a Russian rejection or protracted feigned compliance. The most effective method will be the carrot rather than the stick: the temptation of a major deal."
Alexander Baunov of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin has commented
The US may well agree to the demand for an arms embargo, because Trump doesn't want to spend any more American money on Ukraine,
the Moscow political scientist Sergei Markov wrote on his Telegram channel
Despite everything we're hearing from Washington, Ukraine does actually still hold a lot of trump cards,
the security expert Dmitri Alperovitch told DWHe rejected this proposal for an unconditional ceasefire, he wants conditional, he wants a ceasefire on his terms.”
Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said
Absent Trump, I don’t think you would see this reorientation of the Republican party. Even with Trump a lot of Republicans, especially on Capitol Hill, are very uneasy about it and don’t like what Trump is doing but they’re afraid to speak out.”
Max Boot, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations thinktank and author of Reagan: His Life and Legend, said