Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected Ukraine's proposals for a ceasefire or a peace summit, describing the Kyiv government as a regime that "depends on terror" and "is not seeking peace."
During a televised meeting with senior officials on June 4, Putin ruled out the possibility of an immediate truce, arguing that any pause in the fighting would only allow Ukraine to rearm with Western support and plan new attacks.
Putin's refusal came after peace talks held on June 2 in Istanbul, where Ukraine proposed an unconditional truce of 30 to 60 days with the aim of preparing a possible meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
However, Russia only offered a localized truce of 2 to 3 days in certain areas of the front to allow for the recovery of the bodies of fallen soldiers, a proposal that was harshly criticized by Zelensky.
"They don't understand what a ceasefire is," said the Ukrainian president, adding that "a truce is so there are no deaths, not to collect them."
Putin justified his position by citing the recent attacks on Russian territory, specifically the destruction of bridges in the Bryansk and Kursk regions on May 31.
According to Russian authorities, the attacks left seven dead and more than 100 injured, and occurred just before the negotiations in Türkiye. The Russian leader directly accused Kyiv of the attacks, describing them as terrorist acts and claiming they demonstrate a degeneration of the Ukrainian government into a "terrorist organization." He also pointed out that Ukraine's Western sponsors are becoming accomplices to terrorism.
