Putin sets out tough conditions for Ukraine ceasefire

KABUL (Pajhwok): Russian president Vladimir Putin has said he agrees with the idea of a ceasefire in Ukraine, but that “questions” remain about the nature of a truce – as he set out a number of tough conditions for peace.

The Russian leader was responding to a plan for a 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine agreed to earlier this week following talks with the US.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described Putin’s response to the plan as “manipulative” and called for more sanctions on Russia.

Meanwhile, the US placed further sanctions on Russian oil, gas and banking sectors.

Russian officials said Putin was expected to hold talks on the ceasefire on Thursday evening with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who had flown to Moscow earlier that day.

Late on Thursday and overnight, both Russia and Ukraine reported new enemy drone attacks.

Ukraine said seven people – including children – were injured in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv.

Russia reported a large fire at an oil facility in the southern city of Tuapse.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow on Thursday, Putin said of the ceasefire proposal: “The idea is right – and we support it – but there are questions that we need to discuss.”

A ceasefire should lead to “an enduring peace and remove the root causes of this crisis”, Putin said.

“We need to negotiate with our American colleagues and partners,” he said. “Maybe I’ll have a call with Donald Trump.”

Putin added: “It will be good for the Ukrainian side to achieve a 30-day ceasefire. “We are in favour of it, but there are nuances.”

One of the areas of contention is Russia’s western Kursk region, Putin said, where Ukraine launched a military incursion last August and captured some territory.

He claimed Russia was fully back in control of Kursk, and said Ukrainian troops there “have been isolated”.

“They are trying to leave, but we are in control. Their equipment has been abandoned,” Putin said.

“There are two options for Ukrainians in Kursk – surrender or die.”

Ukraine’s top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said a day earlier that Ukrainian troops would hold defensive positions in the Kursk region “as long as it is expedient and necessary” despite “increased” pressure from Russian forces.

At Thursday’s press conference, Putin also outlined some of his questions over how a ceasefire would work. He asked: “How will those 30 days be used? For Ukraine to mobilise? Rearm? Train people? Or none of that? Then a question – how will that be controlled?

Putin “doesn’t say no directly”, Zelensky said in his nightly video address, but “in practice, he’s preparing a rejection”.

He added: “Putin, of course, is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war, wants to kill Ukrainians.”

The Russian leader had set so many pre-conditions “that nothing will work out at all”, Zelensky said.

ma

Azerbaijan, Armenia agree to ceasefire

KABUL (Pajhwok): Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed on Saturday to a ceasefire, promising to begin “substantive talks” on the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, says a media report. Bitter fighting in the central Asian region has claimed hundreds of lives, forced thousands to flee and stirred fears of a full-blown war that…

Putin: Russia concerned at situation in Afghanistan

KABUL (Pajhwok): Russia has voiced its concern at efforts by some countries to exploit the current unstable situation in Afghanistan in the name of battling terrorism. President Vladimir Putin, addressing a meeting on Afghanistan in Moscow on Wednesday, hit out at non-regional countries for not taking the measures that were…

31,000 Ukrainian troops killed in Russian attacks: Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has for the first time confirmed the deaths of 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers in attacks in two years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.