So, who didn't see this coming?
Washington says it is waiting to hear Moscow's reaction to the temporary 30-day ceasefire plan sketched out by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Ukrainian counterparts in Saudi Arabia this week. President Donald Trump has suggested he could hit Russia with sanctions if they reject the proposal.
On Thursday Putin's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov appeared to do just that, calling the outlined plan "nothing else than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more."
[...]
Putin himself has made no suggestion he is prepared to soften his maximalist demands for ending a war in which Russia believes it has the upper hand. He wants Ukraine to withdraw from its regions partly occupied by Russia — essentially giving even more land to the Kremlin — while promising never to join NATO and protecting Russian culture and language inside the country.
Earlier Thursday, the Russian president urged his own soldiers to secure a quick and decisive victory while on a visit to the frontlines in the only Russian region where Ukrainian troops hold territory.
[...]
“Our task in the near future, in the shortest possible time frame, is to decisively defeat the enemy entrenched in the Kursk region,” Putin said.
NBC
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