Video: Russia rejects Zelensky’s 60-day ceasefire bid as tactic to ‘buy time’, rearm
Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov
Abdullateef Fowewe
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has dismissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s proposal for a two-month ceasefire.
Video: Russia rejects Zelensky’s 60-day ceasefire bid as tactic to ‘buy time’, rearm
Lavrov while speaking on Monday noted that the ceasefire is designed to give Kyiv a respite to regroup and allow Europe to supply more weapons.
“Their goal is to buy time and get a respite,” Lavrov said of the proposal. It would give Zelensky time to “gather strength,” while Europe could use the window to pump in “new weapons,” he said.
In a separate formulation reported by Russian and international outlets, Lavrov stated, “I do not think that he has earned a respite. I do not think that we will once again fall for assurances and promises.”
He added that Russia continues to pursue the goals of its military operation.
The comments came a day after Zelensky, responding to criticism from United States President Donald Trump, offered the ceasefire as a condition for holding elections.
“Please tell Putin, give us two months, 60 days of total ceasefire, 60 days, and we will organise elections,” Zelensky told ABC’s This Week on Sunday.
He stressed that the choice of leader belongs to the Ukrainian people.
Trump had said it was time for Ukraine to get a new president capable of reaching a deal to end the war, amid friction over Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil facilities and related energy and diesel issues.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected a temporary truce, saying Russia seeks “long-term peace” rather than a ceasefire and is prepared to do everything possible to achieve it.
Russia has long argued that the absence of wartime elections undermines Zelensky’s legitimacy; Ukrainian law prohibits elections under martial law, in place since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
