At a press conference in Astana, Kazakhstan, Putin added that he is unaware of the specifics of Trump's purported “peace plan.”
"We take Mr. Trump seriously when he, as a presidential candidate, says he is ready and willing to stop the war in Ukraine," Putin stated.
He added that Russia is not ready for a ceasefire in Ukraine because the Kremlin leader is “unsure” whether Ukraine would reciprocate. He also deemed it "pointless" to turn to the Ukrainian parliament for negotiations. Officially, Moscow maintains that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is illegitimate because his presidential tern would have expired in May under normal conditions. Ukrainian law, however, prohibits elections during a state of war.
“We need to ensure that the opposing side agrees to steps that are irreversible and acceptable to the Russian Federation,” Putin said.
“A ceasefire is impossible without such an agreement.”
Finally, he suggested that peace in Ukraine is ‘unlikely’ to achieved through intermediaries.
“We have always supported negotiations, you know this well, we never rejected them,” he claimed.
“The question is that it seems unlikely to completely resolve the conflict solely through intermediaries.”
On July 3, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during a meeting with Putin, stated that Ankara could lay the groundwork for a ceasefire agreement and eventually achieve peace between Russia and Ukraine.