Ceasefire talks between the United States and the Russian Federation are underway, but telegraphing that the country won’t accede easily a senior Putin ally publicly rubbished the proposed term, calling them too favourable to Ukraine.
Longstanding Putin aide Yuri Ushakov, a veteran diplomat and former Russian ambassador to the United States has signalled the country’s willingness to play tough on negotiations for a 30-day Ukraine ceasefire. Ushakov expressed even as talks got underway in Moscow on Thursday that the terms presented offered Russia nothing and would allow Ukraine to regenerate its military.
Ushakov, who was on the Russian negotiation team in Saudi Arabia sitting across the table from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month made the claim to domestic media that Russia is not interested in a time-limited ceasefire, but rather ” a long-term solution that would take our interests into account, which we have clarified a million times”.
As it is, both Russia and Ukraine claim to be ready for peace, while accuse each other of wishing to prolong the war. Indeed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said just today that Russia not immediately agreeing to the ceasefire terms means they seek “to prolong the war and postpone peace”.
Witkoff, American Delegation Arrive in Moscow For Ceasefire Talks With Putin https://t.co/YfXH9BTtuK
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) March 13, 2025
The totally contradictory positions essentially boil down to a total disconnect on worldviews and self-interested demands: ultimately both side has been ready for peace since day one of the Ukraine War, as long as it comes totally on their own terms.
Putin aide Ushakov called the ceasefire proposal, which has already been agreed in principle between the U.S. and Ukraine “a bit hasty” and said it would need reworking ” so that it reflects our position, too. It reflects only Ukraine’s stance at this point”.
In his comments to Russian media, Ushakov said he’d already spoken to U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz by telephone on Wednesday to discuss the deal and had “outlined our position that this (ceasefire) is nothing more than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more”.
While Ushakov is a senior aide and long-time ally to President Putin, he moderated his remarks nevertheless with a disclaimer, reminding: “It is up to the president to formulate our official position”. Even that fails to address what else is clear, that much strident rhetoric — not just from Moscow, but from Kyiv and Washington too — in recent weeks which has alarmed the press and public at times is pre-negotiation positioning, not absolute truth.
U.S. envoy Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Thursday morning for talks, which may last into Friday. As stated by The Times, earlier speculation that Witkoff may meet President Vladimir Putin personally today appear to be firming up, with Ushakov himself having said such a meeting hadn’t been “excluded”.
A separate possibility is, after all this, a telephone call between President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin. The two have already spoken this year by telephone, the first step in the resumption of diplomatic contact between the United States and the Russian Federation after the Biden-era freeze in response to the Russian invasion.
