{"id":129970,"date":"2025-03-14T21:58:49","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T21:58:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-putin-trying-to-sabotage-ceasefire-as-russian-leader-heaps-more-praise-on-trump-sky-news\/"},"modified":"2025-03-14T21:58:49","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T21:58:49","slug":"ukraine-war-latest-putin-trying-to-sabotage-ceasefire-as-russian-leader-heaps-more-praise-on-trump-sky-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-putin-trying-to-sabotage-ceasefire-as-russian-leader-heaps-more-praise-on-trump-sky-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine war latest: Putin 'trying to sabotage' ceasefire – as Russian leader heaps more praise on Trump – Sky News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vladimir Putin and US officials are expressing optimism about peace talks. But while Ukraine’s president says there is a “good chance” to end the war, he and a key ally say Russia is trying to delay negotiations. Listen to The World podcast with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim as you scroll.
false,Friday 14 March 2025 21:45, UK
We’ve heard from the key players on the ceasefire proposal today, with interaction between the US and Russia continuing as pressure grows on Vladimir Putin to agree to a deal.
But what did they say? Take a look at a summary below:
Vladimir Putin<\/b>
We heard from Russia’s president this afternoon, and he said the situation is starting to move following talks with Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow, adding “let’s see what comes of it”.
In a continuation of his policy of flattery towards Trump, Putin said: “We know that the new administration headed by President Trump is doing everything to restore at least something of what was basically destroyed by the previous US administration.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/b>
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s president said he sees a “good chance” to end the conflict with Russia, while also warning “we don’t want to play games with war”.
He repeated his call for pressure to be ramped up on Russia to force Putin into ending the war, adding “only decisive actions can end this war”.
“Putin cannot exit this war because that would leave him with nothing,” he said. 
“That is why he is now doing everything he can to sabotage diplomacy by setting extremely difficult and unacceptable conditions right from the start, even before a ceasefire.”
Zelenskyy also said Putin will not end the war on his own, adding “the strength of America is enough to make it happen”.
Donald Trump<\/b>
We also heard from Donald Trump, who said his team had “very good and productive discussions with President Vladimir Putin of Russia”.
But he went on to refer to “surrounded” Ukrainian troops – probably in the Kursk region of Russia, where the Kremlin’s forces have been advancing against Ukraine’s forces.
Neither Trump nor Putin have provided evidence for their suggestions that large numbers of Ukrainian troops are encircled, a claim that various reports have indicated is not true.
Nevertheless, Trump called on Putin to “spare” the lives of the Ukrainian troops – something Russia’s president said he would only do if Ukraine orders its forces to surrender.
Marco Rubio<\/b>
Speaking from the G7 meeting in Canada this afternoon, the US secretary of state said: “I think there’s reason to be cautiously optimistic.”
But, he said, “we continue to recognise this is a difficult and complex situation”.
He said there was a “positive interaction” between White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin, who met in Moscow yesterday, adding the team would examine the Russian position more closely once Witkoff returned.
Emmanuel Macron<\/b>
The French president followed in the footsteps of Ukraine’s allies and called on Russia to accept the proposal, saying “Russian aggression in Ukraine must end”.
He also said there must be a stop to “delaying tactics” – something Vladimir Putin has been accused of after saying there were “nuances” and “lots of questions” over a deal, while listing a series of conditions for a ceasefire.
Donald Trump has been speaking about Ukraine this evening while making a series of announcements regarding the US Justice Department.
In a characteristically rambling address, he says Ukraine has agreed to a ceasefire but that getting Russia to do so “is not easy”.
He goes on to say he and Vladimir Putin had a “good” and “professional” relationship during his previous term as president.
The US president then makes a vague reference to “some very good results”, saying: “I haven’t wanted to say it until just before I came here, I got some pretty good news, but we have to see what happens.”
Trump also again repeats Putin’s claim – which neither has provided evidence for and which a number of analysts has said is untrue – that Russian forces have encircled a “large number” of Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk.
In increasingly meandering remarks that will further alarm leaders in Kyiv and Europe, he then says “Biden should have never let this war happen” before appearing to suggest Ukraine was to blame for the conflict with Russia.
“First of all, you don’t want to pick on somebody that’s a lot larger than you,” he said.
“Even with the money… there’s a lot of money that we gave them and a lot of equipment… we make the best military equipment in the world but even with all that, erm, it’s er… unbelievable right now.”
The war began when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
We return now to a key theme of reporting around the war today – Vladimir Putin’s claims that large numbers of Ukrainian troops are encircled by Russian forces in Kursk.
Despite no evidence seemingly having been provided to support the claim, it is one Donald Trump has echoed, saying “thousands” are surrounded in the Russian region.
A number of analysts have indicated the assertion is untrue, with one suggesting Putin’s motive in attempting to propagate it.
Janis Kluge, a senior associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said the Russian president was seeking to “distract” Trump from the 30-day ceasefire proposal – a plan Ukraine has agreed to and accused Putin of attempting to “sabotage” (see 16.38 post).
While much of today’s reporting has centred on the diplomacy surrounding efforts to bring the war to an end, hostilities have continued largely unabated on the ground.
A regional governor said a Russian missile struck a residential area in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih today, injuring four people.
Governor Serhiy Lysak also posted a photo on his Telegram channel, showing damage to a building which appeared to house a number of businesses.
Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city’s military administration, warned people to remain inside shelters because of the danger of a repeat strike at the site, a recurring Russian practice.
Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s home town, has been the target of repeated attacks in the three-year-old war against Russia.
A Russian missile attack on Wednesday killed one person and damaged an infrastructure facility, high-rise apartment blocks and administrative buildings.
Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting expects the country to release 3bn euros (\u00a32.52bn) in military aid for Ukraine once the upper house has passed a plan to allow drastically higher public spending, he has said.
“There will be no shortage of financial resources to defend freedom and peace on our continent,” Friedrich Merz said, announcing an agreement with the Social Democrats and Greens on constitutional reform to exempt defence and security spending from debt rules.
As pressure continues to mount on Vladimir Putin to accept a ceasefire deal, there’s one key figure that’s credited with being the architect of the peace plan and the bridge between the Trump administration, Europe and Ukraine.
Sir Keir Starmer appointed Jonathan Powell to be his national security adviser at one of the most critical points in European security since the Cold War. 
He has spent years at the heart of government, helping to broker the peace deal in Northern Ireland and more recently the controversial Chagos deal. 
On this episode of the Sky News Daily, Niall Paterson<\/a> looks at the key role Powell is playing in working towards a lasting peace deal with political correspondent Rob Powell, and former national security adviser Lord Peter Ricketts. 
You can also follow the podcast here<\/a>, so you never miss an episode. <\/i><\/b>
Donald Trump “doesn’t do plans” and that won’t be any different as he tries to negotiate peace, his former national security adviser John Bolton has said.
“What we’re seeing now is Vladimir Putin manoeuvring to get to the point where he has a one-on-one phone conversation with Trump,” he told our presenter Jonathan Samuels<\/a>.
Asked whether he thinks Russia’s president is manipulating Trump, Bolton said: “I think so.
“If you look at the American position on the war, the only regret in the Kremlin is they didn’t ask for more.”
He said that leaves Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a “difficult place” to have the US negotiate with him and then separately negotiate with Russia.
But when asked whether Trump could be hiding a plan that we’re all unaware of as he tries to secure peace, Bolton said: “No, of course not.
“He doesn’t do plans. He thinks relations between states are the real equivalent of the personal relationships between the leaders.”
Bolton added that while Trump is looking forward to his call with Putin, he explained “that’s not Putin’s view” and that the Russian president views Trump as an “easy mark”.
Earlier, we brought you comments from US secretary of state Marco Rubio who was speaking about the ceasefire deal from the G7 meeting in Canada.
Watch what we had to say below…
Vladimir Putin believes it is impossible to accept the ceasefire right now despite knowing Donald Trump “will not wait forever,” a former Russian deputy foreign minister has said.
Speaking to our presenter Jonathan Samuels<\/a>, Andrey Fedorov said: “For Putin to make this step, to accept this proposal, it is only possible if some of the conditions will be fulfilled.
“Yesterday, Steve Witkoff received a list of questions without answering them. Any move forward is not possible, of course it will take time.”
Fedorov said Putin can’t have a ceasefire right away after the Russian president said he still had “lots of questions” yesterday.
When asked to outline Putin’s main demands for ending the war, Fedorov said Russia’s president wants guarantees for “lasting peace” and is demanding that during the ceasefire, all weapon deliveries to Ukraine are stopped.
But Fedorov described this demand as “very hard to realise”.
We’ve now heard from French president Emmanuel Macron, who said he had spoken to Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Sir Keir Starmer today to discuss the ceasefire proposal.
In an online post, Macron followed in the footsteps of Ukraine’s allies calling on Russia to accept the proposal, saying “Russian aggression in Ukraine must end”.
He also said there must also be a stop to “delaying tactics”  – something Vladimir Putin has been accused of after saying there were “nuances” and “lots of questions” remaining over a deal yesterday.
In contrast with Trump, Macron’s comments echo those of Zelenskyy (see 16.38 post). 
The French president will join a virtual meeting of world leaders tomorrow, hosted by Starmer, aimed at building on the “coalition of the willing” – the countries which have pledged their support to Ukraine.
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