Putin aide comments on Ukraine ceasefire talks

Russia “has not lost hope” in a possible ceasefire and resolution of the Ukraine conflict despite Kiev’s stepped up attacks on Russian territory, President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov has said.

Speaking to Kommersant on Tuesday ahead of a planned phone conversation between Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump, Ushakov said that Moscow is “grasping at every opportunity” for a swift settlement. On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Putin and Trump are scheduled to talk on March 18, their second telephone call since the US president’s inauguration in January.

Trump has said that he will discuss control over territory and “dividing up certain assets” with Putin on Tuesday. They are also expected to discuss the 30-day ceasefire proposed by the US.

“A week has already passed since Trump’s proposal [for a 30-day truce]. And what do we see? The most powerful drone attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Russian territory in history. And then another attack,” Ushakov stated. “But we have not lost hope. We are grasping at every opportunity. But they need to talk to each other.”

The March 11 kamikaze drone attack referenced by Ushakov was the largest ever by Kiev. It targeted multiple regions, including Moscow, and resulted in 11 civilian deaths and multiple injuries.

Moscow has strongly condemned such “barbaric” attacks involving hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), some reportedly loaded with shrapnel to maximize casualties. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the assault was planned in advance and timed to coincide with the US-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia on resolving the conflict.

At the Jeddah negotiations last week, Ukraine agreed to a 30-day ceasefire. Shortly afterward, Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, traveled to Moscow to present Putin the details of the proposal.

The Russian president has endorsed the ceasefire in principle but insisted on resolving several issues before it can go into effect, including the fate of Ukrainian forces currently encircled in Russia’s Kursk Region.

Although the details of Witkoff’s meeting with Putin have not been undisclosed, Trump has suggested progress was made, stating that the White House received “some pretty good news” on the ceasefire plan and that recent US-Russia discussions had been “very productive.”