Russian President Vladimir Putin's top foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Thursday that he has told Washington that a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States to stop the war in Ukraine would simply buy Kiev's forces time.
"A temporary 30-day ceasefire: What does this give us? It gives us nothing. It only gives the Ukrainians an opportunity to regroup, to reinforce themselves and to continue the same thing," Mr. Ushakov told Russian media.
Russia's advances on the front line in recent months and US President Donald Trump's attempt to broker a peace deal to end the three-year conflict in Ukraine have sparked fears that Kiev could lose the war.
President Trump's special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, arrived in Moscow on Thursday to meet with President Putin. Russian officials said that U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz had sent details of the ceasefire idea on Wednesday and that Russia was ready to discuss the issue.
President Trump said at the White House on Wednesday that he hoped the Kremlin would agree to the U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine said it would support.
Mr. Ushakov, a former ambassador to Washington who speaks for the Russian president on key foreign policy issues, told state television that he had spoken to Mr. Waltz on Wednesday to convey Russia's position on the ceasefire.
"I stated our position that this would be nothing more than a temporary relief for the Ukrainian army, nothing more," he said.
"Our goal is a long-term peaceful solution that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country and our well-known concerns. It seems to me that no one needs any steps that (merely) look like peaceful action in this situation," Mr. Ushakov said.
The Russian adviser said President Putin will speak to the media later Thursday and present Russia's position in more detail. VOA (A2 Televizion)
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