US-led ceasefire in Ukraine ‘gives nothing’ to Russia, won’t sign deal

• Russian President Vladimir Putin did not outright reject U.S. President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan for Ukraine but is not ready to sign it. He said while the “idea” is correct, further discussions are needed.
• Ukraine agreed to a 30-day ceasefire while securing a minerals deal with the U.S., leading President Trump to lift aid and intelligence suspensions. However, the Kremlin argues that the ceasefire proposal “gives nothing” to Russia in return.
• The Kremlin’s demands remain unclear, but past statements suggest Russia wants to keep occupied Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, and keep Ukraine out of NATO.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t outright rejecting U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in Ukraine — but he isn’t ready to sign anything right now.

Ukraine’s agreement and US involvement

First, earlier during the week of March 10, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to a 30-day ceasefire with Russia while signing the much-discussed minerals deal with the United States.

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In exchange, Trump lifted the suspension on U.S. aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine.

Immediately after Ukraine announced it was willing to adhere to a ceasefire, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the ball was now in Russia’s court.

But Yuri Ushakov, a former Russian ambassador to the U.S., told Russian state media that the ceasefire deal “gives us nothing,” speaking about the Russian side of negotiations.

Why won’t Russia sign the deal?

The Kremlin’s current demands for ending the war aren’t fully known, but in previous statements, Moscow indicated it wanted to keep all the land in Ukraine it’s currently occupying, as well as Crimea, which it illegally seized in 2014. Previous demands from Moscow also included keeping Ukraine out of NATO and foreign troops off Ukrainian soil.

After traveling to Kursk wearing green camouflage fatigues, a rarity for the Russian president, Putin appeared at a joint press conference with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Putin said he backs the “idea” behind the ceasefire deal the United States is proposing, but the details need to be worked out, and the root cause of the conflict needs to be addressed.

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“The idea itself is correct, and we certainly support it,” Putin said. “But there are issues that we need to discuss. And I think we need to talk to our American colleagues as well.”

As of the publishing of this report, the White House has not responded to Russia’s non-acceptance of the ceasefire proposal. In terms of leverage over the Kremlin, President Trump did say there were financial levers he could pull that would be very bad for Russia if it didn’t agree to the ceasefire.

Many analysts say Putin is now in a position he was trying to avoid — which is appearing to be the obstacle to Trump’s peace plan.

Reuters contributed to this report.