The Kremlin on Tuesday warned against rushing peace talks over the war in Ukraine, days after US President Donald Trump suggested a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv could be reached this week.
Trump had said over the weekend that he hoped a peace deal could be struck “this week” despite no signs the two sides were close to agreeing to a ceasefire, let alone a wider long-term peace settlement.
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“This topic is so complex, connected with a settlement, that, of course, it’s probably not worth setting any rigid time frames or trying to achieve a viable settlement in a short period,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state television.
After turning down a US-Ukrainian proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire last month, Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin declared a surprise Easter truce over the weekend.
Reporters at the front line still heard intermittent artillery fire coming from the Russian side during the period of the “truce,” however, there were no reports of Russian strikes on civilians.
Russian strikes on civilian targets had commenced on Monday and Tuesday.
London meeting
This comes as Ukrainian negotiators are set to travel to London on Wednesday for ceasefire negotiations, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Monday.
“Ukraine, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States, we are ready to move forward as constructively as possible,” Zelensky said in a post on social media.
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The meeting will reportedly focus on a proposed peace plan backed by Trump.
According to multiple reports, including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post, the plan includes US recognition of Crimea as Russian territory, a Ukrainian commitment to remain outside the NATO defensive alliance – a measure Kyiv has hoped would prevent a future Russian invasion – and the creation of a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant under American oversight.
It’s unclear what the Ukrainians would gain from such a proposal, if anything, beyond a Russian promise to discontinue its ongoing war in Ukraine.
The proposal was first presented last Thursday in Paris by senior Trump administration officials during a closed-door meeting with Ukrainian representatives. European diplomats were briefed separately the same day, the WSJ reported.
If a consensus is reached in London between Ukraine, the US, and European leaders, the framework could be formally submitted to Putin.
Zelensky has long held that Ukraine would not agree to any relinquishing of its sovereign territory in negotiations.
Speaking with Russian state television on Monday, Putin said he was open to bilateral talks with Ukraine, marking a complete turnaround from his prior position that he would not negotiate directly with the “regime in Kyiv” until Ukraine’s president stepped down.
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