After Ukraine accepted America’s 30-day ceasefire proposal, all eyes are on Russia’s reaction. Will Vladimir Putin – who, as President Trump has incredulously claimed, has all the cards, and at the same time no cards at all – go along with the US proposal, or choose to snub it?
To answer this question, it is important to understand what Putin is trying to do. On the one hand, he did not spend hundreds of billions of dollars on this war, sacrifice hundreds of thousands of lives, and put Russia’s entire economy on a war footing in order to claim a devastated strip of territory in eastern Donbas. Putin wants to reassert effective control over Ukraine, something he can claim as his life’s work and his legacy for Russia.
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Owen Matthews
Why Russia should agree to a ceasefire – and five reasons Putin might not
On the other hand, Putin values the promise of a better Russian-American relationship.
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