UPDATE: Putin ready to a peace deal with Ukraine

Russian President Putin has expressed willingness to agree to a peace deal in Ukraine.

According to media sources, this willingness comes with certain conditions.

The sources say that to agree to a cessation of hostilities, there would have to be a clear understanding about the framework principles of the final peace accord.

Another close source said that Russia will insist in particular on establishing the parameters of an eventual peacekeeping mission.

This will include agreement on which countries would take part, said another person familiar with the issue.

In recent developments, the US and Russia have initiated discussions on a potential Ukraine settlement.

This discussion is to hold with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff said the meeting aims to reach “a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov didn’t immediately respond to a request to comment.

However, Ukraine has emphasized that it will not accept any agreements made without its involvement.

It also said it won’t accept the presence of NATO troops on Ukrainian soil, rejecting a proposal by European countries to put together a “coalition of the willing” to help monitor any peace accord.

It doesn’t object to countries such as China that have been neutral in the conflict deploying forces to Ukraine, the two people said.

Some of the key issues that may be on the table for negotiation include:

– Territorial Control: Ukraine’s demand for the return of all territory seized by Russia, including the Crimean peninsula and the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk ¹.
– Security Guarantees: Ukraine’s request for international security guarantees to prevent future Russian aggression ¹.
– NATO Membership: Ukraine’s bid to join NATO, which Russia has long opposed ¹.

The situation remains complex and sensitive, with multiple parties involved and competing interests at play.

Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump has overturned US policy on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to try to bring a rapid end to the three-year-long war that’s Europe’s worst conflict in 80 years.

He held phone talks with Putin last month and the pair agreed to hold a summit, though no date has been set yet. Trump abandoned US support for Ukraine’s eventual entry into NATO, and his top officials said it was unrealistic to expect a return of all Ukrainian territory seized by Russia since 2014.

After the confrontation with Zelenskiy at the White House, Trump paused military aid to Ukraine and has suspended some intelligence-sharing with Kyiv, shocking European allies who say the US risks rewarding Russia’s aggression in starting the February 2022 invasion.

Putin has repeatedly brushed aside Trump’s bid for a quick halt to the war. During his annual news conference in December, he said: “We don’t need a truce — we need peace: long-term, durable, with guarantees for the Russian Federation and its citizens.”

Russia on Thursday rejected a Franco-British plan for a partial one-month truce covering air and maritime operations including a halt to strikes targeting energy infrastructure.

Stay tuned as events regarding this long awaited ceasefire unfold.

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