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Vladimir Putin identified that Moscow didn’t need to abandon maximalist demands on each contract to stop the fights in Ukraine, even when he said that he “supports the idea” for a 30-day suspension of weapons.
The Russian president said at a press conference on Thursday that every one suspension of weapons must result in the final settlement of the conflict that “would solve the basic causes” of his invasion.
He added that Ukraine’s forces would otherwise have a likelihood to withdraw, regroup and reinforce, identical to the Russian army is gaining a bonus in the Kursk region, whose parts were captured by KIIV last yr.
“Does this mean that Ukraine will use these 30 days to continue forced mobilization, obtain weapons and prepare mobilized units?” said the Russian president.
Putin said that Moscow also had concerns about how any suspension of weapons could be implemented and monitored.
“We will agree on how to end the conflict and find an acceptable agreement for everyone based on how the situation is developing in the field,” he said.
He expressed the certainty that his “breakthrough in Kursk” and elsewhere on the front line would proceed.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he hopes that Russia would support Washington’s proposal, adding that his team led “very serious discussions with Putin and others.”
Referring to the comments through which the Russian president said that he would probably consult with his American counterpart, Trump added: “I would love to meet him and talk to him, but we must do it quickly.”
Speaking in the oval office at the starting of the meeting with the Secretary General of NATO Marek Rutte, Trump said: “We understand the word in Russia.”
Steve Witkoff, a Trump’s envoy in the Middle East, is in Moscow before expectations with the Russian president regarding the war in Ukraine and normalizing US-Russia relations.
Moscow’s previous demands would end the existence of Ukraine as a functioning state and placed it directly on the Russian orbit, while limiting the presence of NATO east of Germany.
Putin called on Ukraine to acknowledge the annexation of Russia of 4 partly occupied southeastern regions and the Crimean Peninsula, withdrawing his soldiers from these areas and committing to never join NATO as preliminary conditions for the suspension of weapons.
Russia can also be striving for Caps in the army of Ukraine, the protection of Russian speakers in the country and fresh elections to exchange President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
This required effective withdrawal from NATO east of the Cold War, which, as Putin claimed, forced him to order invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
On Thursday, Putin also suggested that the US and Russia are negotiating in the scope of securing gas inventory for Europe, after FT reported that his close friend Matthias Warnig engineer engineers restarting Russian gas Nord Stream 2 gas to Europe with the support of American investors.
“If the US and Russia reaches an agreement on energy, then the gas pipe for Europe shall be protected. It shall be useful for Europe because it should receive low cost Russian gas – he said.
