Kiev: Russia has Been Rejecting Ceasefire Calls for 100 Days

The inauguration of U.S. leader Donald Trump earlier this year has spurred a flurry of meetings between US, Russian and Ukrainian officials with the aim of halting Moscow's invasion, without success.

"It has been exactly 100 days since Ukraine unconditionally accepted the US peace proposal to completely cease fire, put an end to the killing, and move forward with a genuine peace process," Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said in a statement, adding that a ceasefire was a "basic first step towards peace."

During several rounds of face-to-face talks in Türkiye, Russia has issued terms to initiate peace talks that Kiev has described as "ultimatums."

The Kremlin is seeking territorial control over four regions it claims to have annexed since 2022 when it launched its invasion, and wants to replace Volodymyr Zelensky as leader of Ukraine.

Moscow's forces have continued to make steady but costly gains across the sprawling front line during the talks, and claims Kiev would use any pause in fighting to rearm and rebuild its stretched forces.

"Ukraine remains committed to peace. Unfortunately, Russia continues to choose war, disregarding the U.S. efforts to end the killing," Sybiga said.

"It is time to act now and force Russia to peace. Peace through strength, increased sanctions, and enhanced capabilities for Ukraine," he added.

Sybiga’s remarks came after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Putin said he was ready to meet with Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, but only during a "final phase" of negotiations on ending the three-year conflict.

He also suggested Zelensky had no right to sign a peace agreement given his five-year mandate had expired under martial law, a notion Kiev has dismissed as baseless propaganda.

"We need to find a solution that would not only put an end to the current conflict, but also create conditions that would prevent similar situations from recurring in the long term," Putin told foreign journalists yesterday Saint Petersburg.

"I am ready to meet with everyone, including Zelensky. That is not the issue, if the Ukrainian state trusts someone in particular to conduct negotiations, for God's sake, it can be Zelensky," the Russian leader said.

"We don't care who negotiates, even if it is the current head of the regime," Putin said.

But he added that this would only happen at a "final phase, so as not to sit there and divide things up endlessly, but to put an end to it."

This troops had the "strategic advantage" in Ukraine and were constantly pushing forward on the battlefield.

"Our troops are advancing along the entire line of contact. Every day, more or less, but every day they go forward. And the advance will continue," Putin said yesterday at a televised press conference with foreign journalists.

Source: HDN