The Kremlin billed this as a significant assertion from Vladimir Putin however how a lot does it really imply?
His feedback are precisely the identical as what Moscow has been saying for weeks, solely repackaged with a date. The most recent try to keep away from committing to a 30-day ceasefire.
Subsequent Thursday – 15 Might – is when he is proposing to carry direct talks with Ukraine. Solely then, he says, can they focus on the main points of an extended truce.
Istanbul is seemingly the venue. The difficulty is, Turkey does not seem to learn about it. The Russian chief mentioned he’d name President Erdogan tomorrow.
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Ukraine and allies name for ceasefire
Given America’s obvious help for Europe’s ultimatum to Russia (ceasefire or sanctions), he needed to reply with one thing new. However this felt like a proposal that had been rapidly cobbled collectively within the hall exterior.
The build-up to this announcement was extraordinarily unusual. We had been instructed it will be a press convention and everybody had the excessive expectation of with the ability to ask questions (which does not occur fairly often right here).
It was initially pitched as a sum-up of the bilateral conferences Putin has held this week with the leaders who had been right here for the Victory Day celebrations. However the ultimatum from Europe appears to have caught the Kremlin off guard.
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As a result of by the point Putin lastly emerged, approaching 2am, there have been no questions. Only a assertion. So what was the purpose in asking all of the journalists to return?
Afterwards, I did handle to pose a query to Putin’s spokesperson, asking him if this was simply one other delaying tactic from Russia.
“No, it is a very severe strategy,” he mentioned.
“You must be in negotiations, direct negotiations, with a purpose to discover a approach for a ceasefire. A simplistic strategy in the direction of the ceasefire is inappropriate.”
The query is, will Donald Trump suppose that is inappropriate? It is two months since he first proposed a 30-day ceasefire and it appears little or no has modified.
