“This war can only end when Russia understands that it must withdraw its troops.” This was stated by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in a press conference in Berlin with his Portuguese counterpart, reiterating that “the peace conference in Switzerland is a piece, which adds to many that have come before”. “For me it is important that young plants are watered”, he added, underlining that “this conference must be used to talk about important issues” such as “the fact that atomic weapons should not be used and the question of wheat exports”. Kanzler’s “hope” is that “effects will develop” from the conference.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to stop the war in Ukraine with a negotiated ceasefire that recognizes “the current battlefield lines”, four Russian sources told Reuters. Three of the sources, familiar with discussions in Putin’s entourage, said the Russian leader had expressed “frustration” to a small group of advisers over what he saw as Western-backed attempts to stymie the negotiations and the President’s decision. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to rule out talks.
“Putin can fight as long as necessary, but he is also ready for a ceasefire, to freeze the war,” said a senior Russian source who has worked with Putin and is aware of the high-level conversations in the Kremlin . The source, like the others cited, spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter. Reuters says it spoke to a total of five people who work or have worked with Putin at a senior level in the political and business world. The fifth source did not comment on the freezing of the war on the current front.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in response to a request for comment, said the Kremlin chief has repeatedly made it clear that Russia is open to dialogue to achieve its goals, saying the country does not want “eternal war” . Ukraine’s foreign and defense ministries did not respond to requests for comment from Kiev.
EU sources: ‘Ceasefire? Putin is not ready for peace
The hypothesis that Vladimir Putin wants a truce in Ukraine is currently ‘just speculation’ based on ‘anonymous sources’ while what is
observes every day is ‘the bombing of civilian targets’. ‘What we see is that Putin is not ready for peace.’
A senior European official made this known to ANSA, commenting on the Reuters exclusive on the fact that the tsar would be interested in a ceasefire.
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