Russian leader Vladimir Putin called the cessation of arms supplies to Ukraine a necessary condition for signing a 30-day ceasefire.
Bloomberg writes about this, citing a senior European official and three people in Moscow familiar with Russiaʼs position.
Putin made this demand during negotiations with the US Presidentʼs special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.
According to Bloombergʼs interlocutors, Russia seeks to stop all aid to Ukraine, but its minimum goal is for this stoppage to affect at least US aid.
Europe is extremely against such a condition. If we stop supplying weapons to Ukraine, Russia will have time to rearm during the truce, and Ukraine will not be able to do this.
This is a temporary suspension of supplies, a source in Russia told Bloomberg. According to him, during the conclusion of a peace agreement, Ukraine will agree to limit its military potential, after which arms supplies will resume.
The leak, which reached Bloomberg journalists, corresponds to one of the conditions that Putin publicly announced during a press conference with the self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on March 13. At that time, he listed the “nuances” that prevent a ceasefire from being concluded. In particular, he said:
"So, how will these 30 days be used? To continue forced mobilization in Ukraine? To supply weapons there? To train the newly mobilized units?"
A more detailed ceasefire will most likely be discussed on March 18, during telephone talks between Putin and the US President Donald Trump.
"Many elements of the final deal have already been agreed upon, but much remains to be done," Trump said a few hours before speaking with Putin.
What preceded
On March 11, negotiations between Ukrainian and US delegations took place in Saudi Arabia. According to their results, Ukraine agreed to an immediate temporary ceasefire — in exchange, Washington decided to resume aid and intelligence sharing. Trumpʼs national security adviser Mike Waltz said that he would discuss the idea of a temporary ceasefire with his Russian counterpart "in the coming days".
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a 30-day ceasefire would apply to the entire front line if Russia agreed to it. On March 13, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said that the ceasefire was “the right idea” and that Russia supported it. But there are still issues that need to be discussed.
Putin said that the Russian side should discuss this with the Americans, in particular, call Donald Trump. Their conversation will take place on March 18. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted to Putinʼs words and said that he was actually preparing a refusal, and everything that was happening was Russian manipulation. The American side spoke of its readiness to organize control and verification of the ceasefire.
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