Putin Rejects Immediate Cease-Fire in Ukraine

Source: MSN.com

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he didn’t support an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine, calling for more discussion on a permanent end to the war as Moscow’s army made rapid gains toward expelling Kyiv’s forces from its Kursk region.

Putin said any pause in fighting at this point would be in Ukraine’s interest because Russia is gaining on the battlefield, and a host of issues would need to be resolved before a cease-fire could be reached.

“The idea itself is good, and we of course support it, but there are questions we have to discuss,” Putin said, referring to a proposed 30-day cease-fire in the war, adding that Russia sought a lasting peace that would need to eliminate the “root causes” of the conflict.

The comments were the first official response from Moscow after Ukraine agreed this week to a U.S.-backed proposal for a pause in the war, now in its fourth year. Putin spoke as President Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, was due in Moscow to discuss the cease-fire proposal, according to two U.S. officials.

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