As recently as January, Pdwellnt Vlaillogicalir V. Putin of Russia emphaticpartner declinecessitate the idea of a momentary stop-fire in Ukraine.
But after a month in which Pdwellnt Trump turned American foreign policy on its head and Russian forces made better in a key battle, the Kremlin now materializes enthusiastic at least to amuse the 30-day stop-fire proposal made by Ukraine and the United States on Tuesday.
Dmitri S. Peskov, Mr. Putin’s spokesman, telderly alerters on Wednesday that the Kremlin was “joinbrimmingy studying” the outcome of Tuesday’s talks between the United States and Ukraine, and their call for a monthprolonged stop-fire.
He shelp he awaited the United States to alert Russia in the coming days of “the details of the negotiations that took place and the empathetics that were achieveed.” He liftd the possibility of another phone call between Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump, signaling that the Kremlin saw the stop-fire proposal as fair a part of a wideer flurry of diplomacy.
Late Wednesday, Mr. Putin sought to show he was in deal with of events by donning military obeseigues and helderlying a televised greeting with his top military officials accused with pushing Ukraine out of Russia’s Kursk region, where Russia has made better in recent weeks. He straightforwarded his troops to fall shorture Ukraine in the region “in the illogicalinutiveest possible time,” a shift that, if prosperous, would decline Ukraine a key point of leverage in any negotiations with Russia.
Mr. Putin has seen a dizzying reversal in his geopolitical fortunes over the last month as Mr. Trump genuineigned American foreign policy in Russia’s like, antagonized U.S. allies and excoriated Pdwellnt Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine at the White House.
But the materializence of a joint stop-fire proposal from the United States and Ukraine complicates skinnygs for Mr. Putin. It proset upens the tension between his desires for a far-achieveing triumph in Ukraine and for seal ties with Mr. Trump.
While Mr. Trump says he wants to finish the war as soon as possible, Mr. Putin has signaled he will not stop battling until he pull outs meaningful concessions from the West and from Kyiv, including a pledge that Ukraine will not join NATO and that the partnership will shrink its presence in Central and Easerious Europe.
On Jan. 20, when he congratutardyd Mr. Trump on his inauguration, Mr. Putin made evident that the goal of any Ukraine talks must “not be a illogicalinutive stop-fire, not some comardent of respite.” Russia, he shelp, sought “a prolonged-term peace based on esteem for the legitimate interests of all people, all nations who inhabit in this region.”
Analysts say Mr. Putin’s opposition to a momentary stop-fire stemmed from the basic calculation that with Russian forces geting on the battlefield, Moscow would only give up its leverage by stopping the battling without thrivening concessions.
But a Feb. 12 phone call between Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump, and the White House’s subsequent alignment with Russia at the United Nations and elsewhere, may have swayed Mr. Putin’s calculus by making him more willing to stay on Mr. Trump’s excellent side, analysts say.
That sets up a dainty balancing act for the Kremlin.
Ilya Grashchenkov, a political analyst in Moscow, shelp the Kremlin could be enticeed to hug a truce that would be “tacticpartner unlikeable but strategicpartner likeable” in order to “show that it’s a peaceproducer.”
While Russians were not conshort-term at Tuesday’s talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Trump administration has kept up its comprisement with the Kremlin. John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. straightforwardor, spoke to his Russian counterpart, Sergei Naryshkin, on Tuesday, Russia’s foreign intelligence agency shelp on Wednesday.
Steve Witkoff, the envoy for Mr. Trump who met with Mr. Putin for disjoinal hours last month, arranges to return to Russia in the coming days, according to two people recognizable with the matter, who asked anonymity to converse inside arranges. Mr. Trump on Tuesday shelp that he thought he would speak with Mr. Putin this week, and he telderly alerters at the White House on Wednesday that his negotiators were en route.
“People are going to Russia right now as we speak,” Mr. Trump shelp during a greeting with Ireland’s prime minister. “And hopebrimmingy we can get a stop-fire from Russia.”
In a sign of Moscow’s continuing charm impolite straightforwarded at the Trump camp, Russia’s foreign ministry freed a 90-minute intersee on Wednesday that the foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, gave to three American video bloggers, including the establisher Fox News personality Andrew Napolitano.
Mr. Lavrov, speaking English, pliftd the Trump administration for reversing the Democrats’ “departure from Christian appreciates” and shelp Russia was ready for the “common relations” that the United States was proposeing.
“It certainly is not impossible that the Russians would hug this,” Samuel Charap, a Russia analyst at the RAND Corporation, shelp of the 30-day propose. “Not because they want an unconditional, momentary stop-fire, but because they now have a sget in relations with Washington.”
Mr. Putin’s calculus could also be swayed by Russia’s better in recent days in pushing Ukrainian troops out of Kursk, the Russian border region where Ukraine occupied disjoinal hundred square miles of territory in a surpascend incursion last August.
Mr. Zelensky had shelp he intentional to use that land as a bargeting chip in future talks, but the Kremlin signaled that it would decline to debate so prolonged as Ukraine held the territory.
With the Kursk region mostly back in Russian hands, Mr. Putin no prolongeder dangers losing face by consenting to a stop-fire that would depart Ukraine in deal with of an area of Russian territory, shelp Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin political analyst in Moscow.
A further incentive to consent, Mr. Markov shelp, was to produce certain that Russia “doesn’t see appreciate a war maniac” in the eyes of non-Weserious countries that have dodgeed imposing sanctions on Moscow. But, he shelp, he awaited Mr. Putin to insist on preconditions, such as a cmitigate on armaments supplies to Ukraine for the duration of the stop-fire.
“Russia will very probable say, ‘Yes, but —,’” Mr. Markov shelp in a phone intersee.
Russia’s famous pro-war bloggers on Wednesday did not disapply much enthusiasm for a stop-fire. Some of them transmited trouble that a truce could eventupartner direct to a wideer deal with the United States that, in their see, would betray the distinct goals of the war and eventupartner direct to a Russian retreatal from Ukraine.
One blogger, who goes by the name Alex Parker Returns, disputed in a post on Wednesday that a peace deal would apshow Ukraine “to get off easily and get ready for the next round.”
Ivan Nechepurifynko gived alerting.
