Putin and Trump do not support European-Ukrainian temporary ceasefire idea, says the Kremlin

MOSCOW – The Kremlin said on Dec 28 that Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump do not support a European-Ukrainian push for a temporary ceasefire ahead of a settlement, and that Moscow thinks Kyiv needs to make a decision on Donbas.

Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said a call between Mr Putin and Mr Trump lasted one hour and 15 minutes and took place at the request of Mr Trump ahead of his meeting in Miami with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
.

“The main thing is that the presidents of Russia and the United States hold similar views that the option of a temporary ceasefire proposed by the Ukrainians and the Europeans under the pretext of preparing for a referendum or under other pretexts leads only to a prolongation of the conflict and is fraught with renewed hostilities,” Mr Ushakov said.

He said that for hostilities to end, Kyiv needed to make a “bold decision” in line with Russian-US discussions on Donbas.

“Given the current situation on the fronts, it would make sense for the Ukrainian regime to make this decision regarding Donbas.”

Russia, which controls 90 per cent of Donbas, wants Ukraine to withdraw its forces from the 10 per cent of the area that Kyiv’s forces still control. Overall, Russia controls about a fifth of Ukraine.

Mr Trump has repeatedly promised to end the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II and his envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner have been negotiating with Russia, Ukraine and European powers.

Ukraine and its European allies are worried that Mr Trump could sell out Ukraine and leave European powers to foot the bill for supporting a devastated Ukraine after Russian forces took 12 sq km to 17 sq km of Ukraine
per day in 2025.

“Donald Trump listened attentively to Russian assessments of the real prospects for reaching an agreement,” Mr Ushakov said.

“Trump persistently pursued the idea that it was really necessary to end the war as soon as possible, and spoke about the impressive prospects for economic cooperation between the United States and Russia and Ukraine that were opening up,” he said. REUTERS