Russia is trying to undermine peace talks and should be slammed with tough new sanctions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday ahead of negotiations between the U.S. and Moscow.
Ukraine agreed to a Trump administration proposal for a 30-day pause in fighting earlier this week after high-level talks with a U.S. delegation in Saudi Arabia — on the condition that Moscow also commits to the plan.
President Donald Trump threatened the Kremlin with swift reprisals in the form of “devastating” financial penalties if it spurned the ceasefire proposal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin did not reject the plan outright Thursday at a press conference in Moscow, saying he supported “ending this conflict in a peaceful way.”
But he offered up a list of questions and conditions that he said would need to be addressed before any agreement could be reached, including whether Ukraine would be allowed to resupply its forces during the temporary halt in fighting.
It’s all part of Putin’s “manipulative” playbook to kill or delay a ceasefire, Zelenskyy said in his nightly videotaped address.
“Of course, Putin is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war and keep killing Ukrainians,” the Ukrainian leader said.
“That’s why, in Moscow, they are surrounding the ceasefire idea with such preconditions that it either fails or gets dragged out for as long as possible. Putin does this often — he doesn’t say ‘no’ outright, but he drags things out and makes reasonable solutions impossible.”
Zelenskyy added that it is “time to increase pressure” on Putin with stronger sanctions, as Trump had threatened.
“Sanctions must be applied — ones that will work,” Zelenskyy said. “We will continue working with our American and European partners and with everyone in the world who wants peace — to force Russia to end this war.”
Speaking to reporters from the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump called Putin’s statement on the ceasefire “promising,” but said it “wasn’t complete” and called on Russia to commit to a pause.
“Now we’re going to see if Russia is there and, if not, it will be a very disappointing moment for the world,” he said.
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Moscow on Thursday to meet with Putin in a closed-door meeting to discuss an agreement.
The Kremlin has cast its full-scale invasion, launched in the winter of 2022, as a bid to rid Ukraine of “Nazis” it falsely claims are in power and to protect ethnic Russians in the country’s east.
Most Western nations believe Putin’s true aim is to keep Ukraine in its sphere of influence by crushing its democracy, annexing much of its territory and preventing the country from joining NATO and the European Union.