Putin Aide Rejects US’ 30-Day Ceasefire Proposal for Ukraine War

Ceasefire Proposal for Ukraine War: Russia has criticised a proposed US-Ukraine ceasefire, saying it would merely give Ukrainian forces a reprieve, as Donald Trump’s envoy, Steven Witkoff, arrived in Moscow for peace talks with the Kremlin.

The Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said he had told the US national security adviser, Mike Waltz, that Moscow viewed the proposed 30-day ceasefire as “nothing more than a short reprieve for Ukrainian forces”.

“Steps that merely imitate peaceful actions are not needed by anyone in this situation,” Ushakov said in an interview with Russian state television.

Ushakov reiterated Russia's demands: Ukraine must recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea and four southeastern regions, withdraw troops from lands claimed by Russia and pledge never to join NATO. He said he "hopes [the United States] knows our position and wants to believe that they will take it into account as we work together going forward."

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Moscow also seeks limits on Ukraine's military, protections for Russian speakers and elections to replace Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Meanwhile, Russian forces have reclaimed most of the territory lost in last summer's Ukrainian offensive in Russia's Kursk region.

The U.S. restored military aid to Ukraine after ceasefire talks Tuesday in Saudi Arabia. Trump, pushing for a ceasefire, warned Russia of financial consequences if Putin resists.

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How could Russia respond to the ceasefire proposal?

It is unlikely that Russia would accept the ceasefire as it is, multiple analysts say.

“I think [Russia] rejecting the deal will be unwise politically, diplomatically, but accepting it right now as it is, it’s not going to happen,” Marina Miron, a post-doctoral researcher at the defence studies department at King’s College London, told Al Jazeera.

Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow at the London-based Chatham House think tank, said: “It would be strange and out of character if Russia were to agree to the current proposition without presenting additional demands.”

“Moscow might accept some form of ceasefire, but I don’t see the Kremlin changing its fundamental strategic goal of subjugating Ukraine and having the world accept and validate its brutal aggression,” Mikhail Alexseev, a professor of political science at San Diego State University, told Al Jazeera. “If Russia is seriously interested in a lasting peace, it would quickly agree with the ceasefire and proceed to negotiations on its troop withdrawal from at least some of Ukraine’s occupied territories.”

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