Zelensky Criticizes Putin’s Ceasefire Conditions, Expresses Gratitude to Trump and Modi

Zelensky Criticizes Putin’s Ceasefire: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin's ambivalent response to a proposed ceasefire as “very manipulative”.

“We now have all heard from Russia Putin's very predictable, very manipulative words in response to the idea of a ceasefire,” Zelensky said in his nightly address, as reported by AFP.

In his first comments on the US's 30-day Ukraine ceasefire proposal, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed gratitude to Donald Trump and Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, among other world leaders, for their "noble mission" to resolve the conflict.

Speaking at a joint press briefing with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Putin said he is "grateful" to all the leaders for their efforts towards the goal.

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"As for Ukraine's readiness for a ceasefire, I will tell you how I view it, of course. But I would like to start by thanking the President of the United States, Mr Trump, for paying so much attention to the Ukraine settlement. We all have enough of our own domestic affairs to attend to," Putin told reporters.

"But many leaders of states, among them the President of the People's Republic of China, the Prime Minister of India, the Presidents of Brazil and the Republic of South Africa are addressing this issue and give it a lot of their time. We are grateful to all of them for that because this activity is aimed at achieving a noble mission - the mission of ending hostilities and loss of life," he further said.

Putin Lays Conditions For Ceasefire However, the Russian President has agreed to the US' proposed peace deal with Ukraine but on the condition that it should have lasting peace in the region. "We agree with the proposal for a ceasefire to cease hostilities, but we proceed from the fact that this ceasefire should lead to an enduring peace, and should remove the root causes of this crisis," Putin stated.

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"Would that mean that everybody there would leave? Should we release them after they have committed numerous crimes against civilians there, or will the Ukrainian leadership command them to surrender?" he questioned. "Would that allow Ukraine to continue a forced mobilisation, a supply of arms to Ukraine, so that the newly mobilised units can be trained, or will that not be done?"

PM Modi, on a few occasions, claimed that it "not an era of war but of dialogue and diplomacy". It has to be noted that the Indian PM has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on several occasions since the war broke out in February 2022.

Zelenskyy Slams Putin For Setting Conditions Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin for setting conditions to a proposed ceasefire as "very manipulative."

"We now have all heard...Putin's very predictable, very manipulative words in response to the idea of a ceasefire," Zelenskyy stated. "We do not set conditions that complicate anything. Russia does that," Zelensky said. "As we have always said, the only one who will drag things out, the only one who will be unconstructive is Russia."

The Ukraine President claimed that Putin was "actually preparing a refusal" but he is "afraid to say directly to President Trump that he wants to continue this war.

" He accused Putin of "framing the idea of a ceasefire with such preconditions that nothing will work out at all, or for as long as possible."

"Putin often does this - he doesn't say 'no' directly, but he does it in such a way that he practically only delays everything and makes normal solutions impossible. We think that this is all just another Russian manipulation," Zelenskyy added.

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