Putin rejects Trump-proposed cease-fire ahead of Witkoff meeting in Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday rejected the terms of President Trump’s proposed 30-day cease-fire in Ukraine, demanding that the West stop arming Kyiv before it would consider such an arrangement.While he said Moscow was willing to “cease hostilities,” Putin said Moscow would only agree to the Trump deal if it were changed substantially.“We agree with proposals to cease hostilities [in Ukraine], but this cessation must lead to a long-term peace and eliminate the root cause of the initial crisis,” he said, without defining what he felt was the “cause.”“We also want guarantees that Ukraine will not mobilize, train soldiers, or receive weapons during the 30-day ceasefire,” the Russian president said without indicating Russia would be willing to abide by the same conditions.It came as US special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow for cease-fire talks with Russian leaders — and hours after Vladimir Putin’s top aides blasted President Trump’s proposal of a 30-day cease-fire in Ukraine as “useless to everyone” on Thursday —“These kinds of steps, which only mimic peace efforts, are useless to everyone,” Yuri Ushakov, who previously served as Moscow’s ambassador to the US from 1998-2008, told Russian state television.Congressional Republicans had celebrated Trump’s win Tuesday in getting Ukraine to agree to a cease-fire as a US-aligned goal.“Peace for Ukraine is in our nation’s best interest, which is why President Trump has made it one of his administration’s top priorities,” Rep.Pat Fallon (R-Texas) said on X after Washington got Ukraine to agree to the cease-fire.Asked whether Russia would sign off on the the Trump-proposed deal already agreed to by the Ukrainians, Ushakov said the cease-fire agreement had “nothing” in it for Moscow.“It only gives the Ukrainians the opportunity to regroup, gain strength and to continue (defending its country,)” Ushakov said on state television.“I outlined our positi...