President Putin Affirms Russia Does Not Want Ceasefire To Be Utilized By Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Source: Kremlin)

JAKARTA - President Vladimir Putin said Russia had not been able to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine, because Moscow was not sure how Kyiv would respond.

Speaking to reporters when he ended his trip to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, President Putin said the deal had been reached in 2022 to withdraw Russian troops from Kyiv, but there was no response from Ukraine.

According to the Russian president, the West explained that Kyiv "cannot control all of its armed formations because some of them are suspected of not complying with the central government."

President Putin said Moscow was ultimately "confronting fraud again because all deals (which involve troop withdrawals), which have been reached in Istanbul, were thrown into the trash."

"And this has happened many times," he said, quoted from TASS July 5.

"That's why we can't announce a ceasefire now in the hope that others will take some positive steps," the president continued.

"We cannot allow the enemy to use this ceasefire to improve the situation, arm themselves, reshape its troops through forced mobilization and are ready to continue the armed conflict," he explained.

Earlier, President Putin said at the SCO summit, Russia had always supported a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine crisis, which emerged as a result of the United States' completely disrespectful policy of its satellites.

"Russia has always spoken out in support of political and diplomatic resolutions from the situation in Ukraine, the crisis, which emerged as a result of a completely disrespectful policy from the United States in charge of its satellites," President Putin said.

"We have repeatedly submitted our concrete proposals regarding this matter to the negotiating table," the Russian president added.

In a meeting with senior staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on June 14, President Putin said Russia was ready to resolve Ukraine's crisis, underscoring the recognition of the status of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions as Russian territory, establishing Ukraine's non-block and nuclear-free status, demilitarization and denazification, as well as lifting anti-Russian sanctions.