The Kremlin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has effectively rejected US President Donald Trump’s proposal to halt the Russia-Ukraine war along the current line of contact. Trump has repeatedly suggested freezing hostilities where Russian and Ukrainian forces face each other, with a subsequent stage of negotiations for normalization.
However, the Kremlin maintains a different sequence: according to President Putin, a comprehensive peace agreement with the West, including robust security guarantees for Russia, must come first—only then can any ceasefire be considered. This has been Moscow's fundamental position since the early phase of the war.
Despite informal talks and summits with US leadership, including threats of new sanctions and missile supplies, the Kremlin has consistently dismissed the concept of a ceasefire without a broad settlement. The next Trump-Putin meeting is set for Budapest, yet Peskov’s statements indicate no shift in Russia’s stance.
Thus, the US initiative for an immediate ceasefire has not gained Moscow’s support so far, and achieving a compromise remains unlikely in the short term.
