US negotiators to set out Ukraine truce plan to Russia
Top Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Thursday that any Ukraine peace settlement must secure Russia's "interests", and that President Vladimir Putin would probably give his opinion on a 30-day U.S. ceasefire proposal later.
"That is what we are striving for. A peaceful settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of our country," Ushakov said. "The President will probably make more specific and substantive assessments."
Ushakov criticized a U.S.-Ukrainian proposal which he said was not conducive to long-term peace and would just be a "breather" for the Ukrainian military.
"It would be nothing more than a temporary breather for the Ukrainian military," Ushakov told state media after speaking by phone to U.S. national security advisor Mike Waltz.
Ushakov said the joint U.S.-Ukrainian idea was a "hasty" step that "is not in favor of a long-term settlement."
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said the fact there was no "meaningful" response from Moscow to the ceasefire proposal meant the Kremlin wants to keep fighting in Ukraine.
"Regrettably, for more than a day already, the world has yet to hear a meaningful response from Russia to the proposals made. This once again demonstrates that Russia seeks to prolong the war and postpone peace for as long as possible. We hope that US pressure will be sufficient to compel Russia to end the war," Zelensky said in a statement on social media.
Meanwhile, Russia said it had taken full control of Sudzha, a town in the Kursk region that fell to Ukrainian forces shortly after their shock offensive last August.
The Russian defense ministry said in a statement it had "liberated" Sudzha along with two other settlements in the border region.
Russia also said it intercepted and destroyed 77 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Thirty drones were downed over the western Bryansk region bordering Ukraine while 25 were downed over Kaluga, the Russian defense ministry said in a statement. More drones were intercepted over the regions of Kursk, Voronezh, Rostov and Belgorod.
Source: Agence France Presse
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