The Russian president set a list of conditions for the truce called for by the US, while the US special envoy for Ukraine, Steve Witkoff, visited Moscow. Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, denounced the Kremlin leader's 'manipulative words.

Speaking a day later alongside Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko — who brokered two failed processes to end Putin’s initial invasion of Ukraine a decade ago — the Russian president said any ceasefire would simply let Kyiv’s forces regroup just as Moscow is close to driving them out of Kursk.