Vladimir Putin broke his silence on the proposed 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine – and said the Kremlin would continue to reject the deal until Ukrainian troops in Kursk ‘surrender or die’

Vladimir Putin has said Ukrainian troops involved in a counter-offensive will have to “surrender or die” before he agrees to a ceasefire.

Russia today rejected a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire drawn up by the US and Ukraine after a nine-hour meeting in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. Asked about the ceasefire at a press conference alongside Belarus’s president Alexander Lukashenko, Putin thanked Donald Trump for trying to get a deal done – but suggested he would not agree to it in its current form. He said: “We agree with the proposal for a ceasefire to cease hostilities, but we proceed from the fact that this ceasefire should lead to an enduring peace, and should remove the root causes of this crisis.”

Putin also recalled his visit to Kursk yesterday, where Russian troops are attempting to repel a Ukrainian counteroffensive in their own territory. He said “the situation is fully under our control, and the group that invaded our territory has been fully isolated”. The Russian leader added that Ukrainian troops can no longer leave the area, and they will have to “surrender or die”. He identified the fighting in the region as one of the issues preventing a deal being reached.

It comes as Donald Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow today for high-level talks with Vladimir Putin aimed at ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The property mogul, who was appointed to a senior White House foreign policy role by Trump, is expected to meet with the Russian president after his visit was confirmed by US officials and Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, who said the meeting would be held behind closed doors in the Kremlin.

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