**Russia Ready for Ceasefire, But Wants Ukraine to Agree to Demilitarize**
Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country is ready to stop fighting in Ukraine. However, he has laid out several conditions that must be met before a ceasefire can happen.
Putin met with US envoys at the Kremlin and told them that any ceasefire must lead to “long-term peace” and eliminate the root causes of the conflict. But his idea of what those root causes are is different from Ukraine’s.
Ukraine wants to exist as an independent country, free from Russian control. It also wants to join Nato and the European Union. Putin, however, sees these moves as a threat to Russia’s influence in the region.
**Demilitarization Demands**
Putin has long demanded that Ukraine be “demilitarized”. This means that Ukraine must stop receiving military aid and equipment from the West. He also wants guarantees that this will happen.
This is a condition that Ukraine and its Western allies are unlikely to accept. Ukraine sees itself as an independent country with the right to defend itself, and it has already been fighting Russia for months.
**Russia’s Position**
Putin seems confident that Russia is winning the war in Ukraine. He recently visited the front line in Kursk, where Russian forces have taken control of a major city. Putin believes that a ceasefire would give Ukraine time to regroup and rearm.
He also thinks that a ceasefire would deprive Russia of its advantage on the battlefield. “What are our guarantees that nothing like that will be allowed to happen?” he asked.
**No Mechanism for Ceasefire**
There is no mechanism in place to ensure that any ceasefire terms would hold. The US and other Western countries have offered peacekeeping troops, but only if there is a final peace deal, not just a ceasefire.
Given these conditions, it seems unlikely that Ukraine and Russia will agree on a 30-day ceasefire anytime soon.