As Europe positively beamed at the prospect of a month-long ceasefire in Ukraine, Russian ultranationalist voices and a Russian State Duma deputing particular, rejected the idea out-of-hand on Tuesday.
Russian military bloggers reacted negatively to the ceasefire proposal, The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote, because the United States and Ukraine will allegedly “abandon” peace “at the first opportunity” and, in their ironic opinion, the war in Ukraine is “existential” for Russia.
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One hardline blogger claimed that accepting the ceasefire would be “pure betrayal and sabotage,” and another questioned the purpose of accepting this ceasefire proposal without achieving Russia’s war aims.
Russian State Duma Deputy and former 58th Combined Arms Army Commander Lieutenant General Viktor Sobolev stated after the publication of the joint statement that Russia should not agree to the “unacceptable” 30-day ceasefire proposal because it would allow Ukraine to rearm and regroup.
The Kremlin has not officially responded to the ceasefire proposal as of this publication. However, following the first mention of a ceasefire proposal, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Maria Zakharova on Tuesday said that Russia “does not rule out” contacts with the United States over the next few days.
Russian State Duma Security Committee member Mikhail Sheremet stated before the joint statement was released that Russia is interested in a settlement in Ukraine but will not “allow itself to be deceived,” the ISW wrote.
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During negotiations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine presented three key proposals: halting attacks from the air, on the Black Sea, and the release of prisoners.
The Atlantic Council noted: “This places Putin in something of a quandary… Dramatic recent changes in US foreign policy have increased his sense of confidence that the international coalition supporting the Ukrainian war effort is finally fracturing… At the same time, he knows that if he rejects Trump’s peace overtures, this will likely derail the broad reset in US-Russian relations that the new United States administration has been signaling since January.”