Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed Thursday that Russia is open to the idea of a U.S. cease-fire proposal for Ukraine but emphasized that any pause in hostilities would require a host of crucial conditions to be clarified before it could proceed.
The Kremlin said Friday that Putin had sent U.S. President Donald Trump a message regarding the cease-fire proposal via the U.S. leader’s special envoy and that there were grounds for “cautious optimism.”
Putin held late-night talks with Steve Witkoff, Trump's envoy, in Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Peskov said Putin was "in overall solidarity" with Trump on Ukraine, but that there was a lot of work to do.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the war has led to staggering casualties, millions of displaced people, widespread destruction and sparked the most significant conflict between Moscow and the West in decades.
Putin’s tentative support for the U.S. cease-fire offer appeared aimed at signaling goodwill to Washington while keeping the door open for further discussions with Trump.
However, Putin stressed that any agreement must address the underlying causes of the war, making it clear that such a cease-fire would likely take longer to implement than Trump desires.
“We agree with the proposals to cease hostilities,” Putin told reporters at the Kremlin. “The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it.” But he added that any cessation must create the foundation for long-term peace and resolve the root causes of the conflict.
For Putin, this includes Ukraine abandoning its NATO ambitions, recognizing Russia's control over the four Ukrainian regions it claims, limiting Ukraine’s military size, and easing Western sanctions. Additionally, he insists that a presidential election in Ukraine should occur, something Kyiv deems premature while martial law is in effect.
Putin highlighted several conditions that still need to be addressed, thanking Trump for his efforts to end the war, which both Moscow and Washington now view as a deadly proxy conflict with the potential to escalate into World War III.
Trump, willing to talk to Putin over the phone, called Putin's statement "very promising" and expressed hope that Moscow would "do the right thing." Trump also revealed that his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, had been in Moscow that day discussing the U.S. cease-fire proposal, which Ukraine had already agreed to.
“We’ll see whether or not Russia is ready to make a deal. If not, it’ll be a very disappointing moment for the world,” Trump remarked.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, however, suggested that Putin is unlikely to accept the cease-fire proposal but is reluctant to directly reject it in front of Trump. “They are imposing these conditions to ensure nothing happens, or it drags on for as long as possible,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.
As the conflict continues, Russia’s territorial ambitions remain a major point of contention. The West and Ukraine view the invasion as an imperial land grab, and despite territorial losses, Russian forces have steadily advanced since mid-2024.
Putin, on the other hand, frames the war as an existential struggle against a decaying West, which he claims humiliated Russia after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 through NATO's expansion.
Putin also raised concerns about how a cease-fire could be manipulated by Ukraine to regroup forces.
“How can we be guaranteed that this won’t happen? How will control over the cease-fire be organized?” he asked, signaling that these issues need to be resolved through further talks with the U.S.
On the matter of territorial settlements, Trump noted that his administration had been discussing the potential future of Ukrainian land, particularly around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe's largest, which has been under Russian occupation.
Both sides have accused each other of endangering the plant's safety.
Putin also expressed concern over the potential effects of a cease-fire on the ongoing situation in Russia’s western Kursk region.
Recently, Russian forces have launched a swift offensive in Kursk against Ukrainian troops, who had entered the region last August in an effort to divert forces from eastern Ukraine. Putin questioned whether a cease-fire would allow Ukrainian forces to withdraw without further conflict.
“If we stop hostilities for 30 days, does that mean everyone there will leave without a fight?” he wondered.
