An adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin said a U.S.-proposed 30-day ceasefire gave nothing to Russia and only benefited Ukraine, in one of Moscow’s first public signs of opposition to a deal Kyiv agreed to on Tuesday.
Yuri Ushakov, a former Russian ambassador to the US and senior aide to Putin, described President Trump’s moves toward a ceasefire as “hasty actions” that don’t benefit Russia in the long term, in an interview with Russian media.
“A 30-day temporary ceasefire. Well, what does it give us? It gives us nothing.” Ushakov said.
“It only gives the Ukrainians the opportunity to regroup, gather strength and continue the same thing in the future.”
Trump dispatched his senior envoy for Russia, Steve Witkoff, to speak with Russian officials about a ceasefire this week. Trump warned he can do “very bad things” to Russia financially if they rejected talks to end the war with Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov did not confirm that Putin would meet Witkoff on Thursday but said Russian leadership plans to hold contacts with the Americans, Russian state media reported.
Witkoff’s trip comes after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the ball is Russia’s court on ceasefire talks, after Ukraine backed a ceasefire, and the U.S. restored military and intelligence support, briefly frozen by Trump.
The U.S. pressure on Russia marks a notable shift from weeks of mounting attacks on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which crescendoed during an Oval Office meeting on Feb. 28.
Ushakov, Putin’s advisor for foreign policy issues, detailed Russia’s demands to the U.S. during meetings in Saudi Arabia, saying that Moscow seeks a “long-term peaceful settlement” and that a temporary truce is a respite for the Ukrainian military.
Ushakov also held a call Wednesday with National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who also joined the talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. And the Russian and U.S. spy chiefs also held a call this week.
Russia’s demands are reportedly similar to proposals it made shortly before it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022: calling for Ukraine to abandon its push for NATO membership, and accept a nuclear-free status. The demands also reportedly include blocking foreign troops from being deployed in Ukraine and for international recognition of Russian claims to four Ukrainian territories, only some of which it occupies.
Almost all of these demands are strongly opposed by Ukraine, Europe and, historically, the United States.
Putin has only ramped up military operations amid Trump’s push for talks, launching a campaign to re-take the Russian territory of Kursk from Ukrainian forces – a key pocket of land that Zelensky offered as potential territorial concessions in any peace talks. Russia controls about 20 percent of Ukrainian territory in the east and annexed the Crimea peninsula in 2014.
The Trump administration has said Ukraine should not expect to get all of its land back in the talks, while also suggesting NATO membership is off the table for Kyiv.
Putin for the first time visited Kursk on Wednesday, as Russia claims it had retaken Sudzha, the biggest town held by Ukraine in the Kursk region.
“Our immediate goal is as soon as possible to conclusively destroy the enemy entrenched on the territory of Kursk region,” Putin said, dressed in military fatigues as he addressed top generals.
