An influential lawmaker in Russia said that any peace would have to follow Moscow's terms.
Mr. Konstantin Kosachev - Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council and the Senate of the Russian parliament - shared: "Russia is making progress in Ukraine. Therefore, this will be different for Russia. Any agreement, with all the understanding of the need for a collusion, must follow our terms, not the US's. This is not a show-off but comes from the fact that real agreements are still being determined on the field. They should understand that in Washington as well.
Sources from Russia on March 12 noted that President Vladimir Putin would find it difficult to accept the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine. Any agreement must take into account Russia's progress on the ground and address Russia's concerns.
A senior Russian source told Reuters that Russia would need to make terms for any ceasefire and must have some guarantees. "It is difficult for President Putin to agree with this in its current form. President Putin has a solid stance as Russia is moving forward," the unnamed source said.
Previously, on March 11, the US resumed military aid and shared intelligence with Ukraine after Kiev affirmed its readiness to support the ceasefire proposal.
Russia is in control of nearly a fifth of Ukraine's territory, about 113,000 square kilometers, and has made progress for many months. Ukraine has taken control of part of western Russia since August 2024 but that control is weakening, according to open-source maps of the conflict and Russia's estimates.
Another senior source pointed out that, in Moscow's view, the ceasefire proposal is not in Russia's interests because it is difficult for Russia to end the conflict without some specific guarantees or commitments.
The third source emphasized that it is worth noting that the US agreed to resume military aid and share intelligence with Ukraine and at the same time proposed a ceasefire.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly ruled out a short-lived ceasefire in Ukraine. Last June, President Putin made peace terms: Ukraine must officially abandon its ambition to join NATO and withdraw troops from all territories in four regions that have declared sovereignty but are now majority controlled by Russia. According to Russia's estimates, Russia controls 75% of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions and more than 99% of the Lugansk region.
In an interview conducted on March 11 and broadcast on March 12, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia will not accept NATO member troops "under any flag, under any status, on Ukrainian soil".
