Despite the start of the worst war in Europe since Hitler and having the blood of hundreds of thousands in his hands, Russian Vladimir Putin is not a leader known for his quick making large decisions.
More often than not during his long term at the top of the Russian Pyramid of Power, many analysts believe that Putin prefers to delay and postpone than to act definitely.
And so, when Putin's answer finally came on Thursday, whether he would agree to the Ukrainian proposal of the 30-day suspension of weapons supported by the US, was characteristically unmoved.
“We agree with proposals to stop hosting,” said the Russian president at a press conference in Moscow, together with the Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko.
But in the next breath, Putin said that a short break in the war was not interested for him, and instead remained involved in the “long -term peace”, which “would eliminate the original causes of this crisis.”
In other words, theoretically yes – but not yet.
Details must be resolved-how could the suspension of the weapon be enforced, could Ukraine change their strength and be able to arm again?
Putin suggested that obtaining all these answers would take some time, more discussions and direct conversations with the US president.
Purchase time
In the meantime, the war will be figured out.
Part of Putin's strategy can be to buy your soldiers more time to establish more favorable front lines for possible freezing conflict.
“Putin protects his plants,” said Mark Galeotti, a London Russian analyst.
“He delays that his forces can end the recovery of Kursk, looking for further concessions, but does not say” no “. “
In the summer, the Ukrainian army shocked the Putin's army, winning a large part of the Russian territory in Kursk and holding it for over six months.
But in recent weeks, when Donald Trump pushed and forced the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to commit to suspending his weapons, temporarily cutting off help and intelligence, Russia's army – with the help of soldiers from North Korea – he focused the burden of their attacks on Kursk, ultimately limiting Ukrainian supply routes.
Ukrainian leaders admit that they are now holding only a small fragment of the original Russian pocket. And at his press conference, Putin said in the coming days, the other Ukrainians on Russian territory will face the choice: “Give up or die.”
Earlier on the same day, Yuri Ushakov, a key adviser to Putin's foreign policy, announced his boss, saying that Russia was not interested in the temporary arrest of war without achieving its wider purposes.
“It doesn't give us anything. It gives only Ukrainians the opportunity to regroup, gain strength and continue the same, “said Usehakov.
Expansive goals
Despite the suffering of huge Russian losses within three years of its invasion and repeatedly did not capture the key territorial goals in Ukraine, such as the capital of Kijiv, Putin did not give any tips that none of his expansive goals of his attack on the country in 2022 changed.
Putin constantly demanded “de-metering” and “de-nazi” of Ukraine-Codex to remove the current political leadership of Ukraine and its replacement with a Russian friendly regime.
He also demanded that Ukraine expose only a small, satisfactory army and abandon all aspirations to join NATO or the European Union.
Putin demanded NATO return to configuration before 1990, leaving the Baltic States, Poland and other countries of Eastern Europe. Finally, it also insisted that Ukraine to recognize four Ukrainian regions Russia caught during the war as permanent parts of Russia.
They are all concessions that Zelenskyy said that no Ukrainian leader can never accept.
“We see a state that is still interested in war and invasion,” said Ian Garner, Canadian academic, who now teaches in Poland and wrote intensively about the Putin regime.
“Tactics of Putin's negotiations, which is more about edges than a compromise. This is what we have seen over the last 10 years, “said Garner, assistant professor at the Pilecki Institute, Polish tank.
“I suspect that (Putin) is involved in tactics,” he puts overhead demands that will be unacceptable to Ukraine, and therefore Putin tells Donald Trump: “We tried, they are unjustified, let's do a contract.” “
Garner says that avoiding “no” to suspend weapons maintains a dialogue with Trump, as well as the potential to restore political and commercial connections between Russia and the USA
Trump's comments
In his first comments about Putin's answer, speaking from the oval office on Thursday, Trump said that Putin “does the right thing” and that the statement of the Russian leader, while “promising” was also “not complete”.
In particular, Trump also suggested discussions with the participation of captured territories of Ukraine that Ukraine will lose – or perhaps regain – as the peace agreement is set.
“The power plant is at stake,” said Trump, a possible reference to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Enerhod – the largest in Europe – which is currently under Russian control.
“Many details of the final agreement have been discussed, so we will see if Russia is there, and if it is not a disappointing moment for the world.”
Earlier, Trump said that he could take steps that could destroy Russia's economy if Putin refuses to suspend their weapons, but the US President took a much more difficult position with Ukraine, including temporary cutting off of American weapons shipments and sharing intelligence.
In a statement on Thursday evening, Zelenskyy called Putin's statement about suspension of “manipulative” weapons and an attempt to mistake and hide the fact that he wanted to continue the invasion.
The war continues
The next movements seem to be for Trump.
His envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Putin in Moscow on Thursday evening, and Trump said he was ready to talk to Putin directly in the near future.
In the meantime, however, Russia's invasion seems to be continued, as did the defense over its territory of Ukraine.
CBC News reached the 52-year-old Ukrainian soldier Oleh, a former history teacher who was injured during the fight in Kursk.
His 26-year-old son is still fighting in the eastern region of Donetsk.
Oleh emphasized the huge military pressure, which is standing in front of the soldiers on the lines of the Ukrainian Front.
“Russia has a very high fire ability – more than we do,” he said.
“We can't answer them accordingly. That is why we must basically speak slowly, go back. “
He admitted that although most Ukrainian civilians want to fail, soldiers are prepared for negotiations.
“We are soldiers, we will say that we will fight, we will fight. But as a dad I don't want to continue (go). “