From: Transform Ukraine By Douglas Landro / March 14, 2025
Russia’s president lays out impossible conditions for U.S.-backed ceasefire while advancing in Kursk Oblast and threatening NATO’s eastern flank in a day that reveals the stark gap between peace talks and battlefield reality
Summary of the Day – March 13, 2025
As the diplomatic dance between Washington and Moscow intensifies, Putin has responded to the U.S.-backed 30-day ceasefire proposal with what Ukrainian President Zelensky calls “predictable manipulations” – demanding Ukraine halt mobilization and cease receiving Western aid during any truce. This diplomatic shadowboxing plays out against the backdrop of significant Russian advances in Kursk Oblast, where Moscow claims to have recaptured the strategic town of Sudzha, and growing security concerns in the Baltic region. Meanwhile, Ukraine struck a covert Russian drone production facility, highlighting the technological aspect of this evolving conflict. The sudden inclusion of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in peace discussions adds yet another complex variable to negotiations that already face seemingly insurmountable obstacles, as Russia appears committed to continuing hostilities while extracting maximum concessions from a fracturing Western alliance.
Putin’s Diplomatic Dodge: Deflection Rather Than Rejection
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered what appears to be a carefully crafted non-rejection of the U.S.-proposed 30-day ceasefire on March 13, laying out conditions that effectively undermine the proposal’s core purpose. Speaking alongside Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Putin claimed to support the “good idea” in principle while demanding guarantees that would effectively disarm Ukraine during any pause in fighting.
Voice of Ukraine 