Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday appeared to rule out a full ceasefire in Ukraine, saying that Kyiv would use any pause in the fighting to rearm.
Ukraine has been pushing for an unconditional and immediate 30-day truce, issuing its latest proposal to Moscow at peace talks in Istanbul on Monday.
“Why reward them by giving them a break from the combat, which will be used to pump the regime with Western arms, to continue their forced mobilization and to prepare different terrorist attacks,” Putin said in a televised government meeting.
At talks on Monday, Russia outlined maximalist demands for such a ceasefire, including that Ukraine fully withdraws from four regions across its east and south that Moscow claims to have annexed, but does not fully occupy.
Putin also accused Ukraine of being behind “terrorist attacks” on bridges in its border regions over the weekend, including one that caused a train to derail, killing seven people and injuring 115 more.
That attack, which Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for, was “directed at thwarting the negotiation process,” Putin said.
Putin also claimed the attacks were evidence that the Ukrainian government was “transforming into a terrorist organisation.”
Instead of a 30-day truce, Russia proposed a short two-to-three-day ceasefire on Monday, intended to let both armies collect the bodies of dead soldiers from the battlefield.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Putin that Kyiv had rejected the idea.
The Kyiv regime “does not need peace at all,” as it would mean the loss of power for them, Putin said.
Russia's top negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, confirmed that Moscow was ready to go ahead with the large-scale prisoner exchange agreed in Istanbul, on June 7-9, after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said the first stage would take place this weekend.
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