Russia rejected the United States-brokered ceasefire agreement for the war in Ukraine.
Yuri Ushakov, a high-level aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, dismissed the bid as a move to help Ukraine regroup while it’s on the back foot. Ukraine agreed to the 30-day ceasefire proposal that was developed during talks in Saudi Arabia. Ushakov told the news channel Russia 1 that he had already explained Moscow’s position to national security adviser Mike Waltz.
“I, naturally, commented on the agreements reached on a temporary truce and stated our position that this is nothing more than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more,” he said, Tass reported.
“We believe that our goal is still a long-term peaceful settlement. We are striving for this, a peaceful settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of our side, our concerns are known. It seems to me that no one needs such steps that imitate peaceful actions in this situation,” Ushakov added.
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The announcement comes amid the quickest territorial change in the war since Ukraine’s Kursk offensive in August. In an operation that sent Russian troops behind Ukrainian lines by utilizing a gas pipeline, Russian forces have begun rapidly pushing Ukrainian forces out of their salient within Russia.
The rejection had been expected. The image-conscious Putin made his first public appearance since the ceasefire announcement in military fatigues, visiting military headquarters in Kursk on Wednesday. It was the first time he was pictured in military garb since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.