Russian President Vladimir Putin could be trying to delay a full truce with Ukraine, U.S. President Donald Trump conceded Tuesday — before adding that he still believes Moscow ultimately wants an end to its war.
As the U.S. seeks to hash out the terms of a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow, Ukraine and its allies have accused the Kremlin of stonewalling negotiations to end its three-year full-scale invasion by presenting a list of delaying conditions and demands.
Ukraine agreed to an initial proposal for a full, unconditional 30-day ceasefire earlier this month, but Putin quickly rejected it.
Asked by a reporter from American right-wing cable news broadcaster Newsmax if he believed that the Kremlin was stalling, Trump on Tuesday said he thought “Russia wants to see an end” to its full-scale invasion.
“But it could be that they’re dragging their feet,” he admitted, adding that he had used the same tactic in his own past dealings to play for time.
“I’ve done it over the years,” Trump said. “You know, I don’t want to sign a contract, I want to sort of stay in the game but maybe I don’t want to do it quite, I’m not sure.”
After high-level peace talks in Riyadh on Monday, the White House said in a statement Tuesday that Ukraine and Russia had committed to a pause in fighting in the Black Sea.
But the Kremlin said in its own statement that the naval truce would only come into effect once the U.S. lifts some sanctions on its financial institutions, a detail notably missing from the White House’s readout.
Kyiv and Moscow also agreed last week to a monthlong halt in strikes on each other’s infrastructure and energy plants, brokered in a call between Trump and Putin.
But just hours after the agreement was reached, Russia launched a barrage of drones at Ukraine, hitting a hospital and a substation.
“You see? [There is] already an air alert, so this [ceasefire] is already not working,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said shortly after the attack.
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