Putin positioning to effectively reject ceasefire proposal — Zelenskyy
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is carefully obfuscating his intention to reject the U.S.-brokered 30-day ceasefire proposal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on March 13.
In his evening address, Zelenskyy suggested that the Kremlin, while still interested in continuing the war, is avoiding angering U.S. President Donald Trump by explicitly rejecting his push for a ceasefire.
“We have just heard from Russia the familiar, manipulative words from Putin in response to the idea of a cease-fire on the battlefield—he is effectively preparing to say no,” said the Ukrainian president.
“Of course, Putin is too scared to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war and keep killing Ukrainians.”
Zelenskyy said Moscow is framing its vision of a ceasefire deal with outlandish preconditions designed to forestall any meaningful progress.
“Putin often doesn’t say ‘no’ outright but takes steps that practically only prolong the conflict and make a proper resolution impossible,” he added.
“We believe all of this is just another instance of Russian manipulation.”
The president noted that on March 11 the United States had proposed an immediate 30-day ceasefire—a proposal Ukraine supported. He explained that Washington had also offered to organize monitoring and verification of any agreement through joint efforts with European partners.
“During the cease-fire, we want to have time to address long-term security, establish a genuine and stable peace, and present a plan to end the war,” Zelenskyy continued.
“Ukraine is ready to work as quickly and constructively as possible. We have discussed this with U.S. representatives, and our European and worldwide partners know about it.”
He stated that Ukraine “is not setting conditions that complicate matters,” which is the essence of Russia’s response thus far.
“As we have always said, the only party dragging things out and acting unconstructively is Russia; they want war,” he added.
“We will continue working with our American, European and global partners who want peace to force Russia to end the war.”
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