Ukraine-Russia ceasefire latest: Putin tours Kursk while Trump threatens sanctions if he doesn’t agree to ceasefire – UK Times

The Kremlin said on Wednesday it would review details from Washington about a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine before responding, while US secretary of state Marco Rubio hoped a deal would be struck within days.

As Moscow considered the plan, president Vladimir Putin, dressed in military fatigues, made a surprise visit to Russia’s Kursk region for the first time since Ukrainian troops captured part of it last year.

With Mr Putin’s presence highlighting recent Russian advances in Kursk, Valery Gerasimov, head of Russia’s General Staff, told the Kremlin leader his troops had repelled Ukrainian forces from 86 per cent of the ground they once held in Kursk.

Ukraine had hoped to use that territory as a bargaining chip in any peace talks with Moscow.

The US on Tuesday agreed to resume weapons supplies and intelligence sharing with Ukraine after Kyiv said at talks in Saudi Arabia that it was ready to support a ceasefire proposal.

The Kremlin on Wednesday said it was carefully studying the results of that meeting and awaited details from the US.

“Hopefully, we can get a ceasefire from Russia,” Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

“I’ve gotten some positive messages, but a positive message means nothing. This is a very serious situation.”

The Kremlin said on March 12 it was awaiting details from Washington about a proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine, while senior Moscow sources said a deal would have to take account of Russia’s advances and address its concerns.

Mr Trump said a ceasefire would make sense for Russia but said there was “a lot of downside for Russia too”, without elaborating.

“We have a very complex situation solved on one side, pretty much solved. We’ve also discussed land and other things that go with it,” he said.

“We know the areas of land we’re talking about, whether it’s pull back or not pull back.”

Asked if he would do anything to pressure Russia, Mr Trump said: “I can do things financially, that would be very bad for Russia. I don’t want to do that because I want to get peace.”

One senior official from Lithuania – one of the Baltic nations which fears Mr Putin’s invasion could be extended to their border – said: “What for us, Ukraine or the US, is 30 days could be just 30 minutes for Russia.”

Arms deliveries to Ukraine have already resumed through a Polish logistics centre, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Poland announced on Wednesday.

The deliveries go through a Nato and US hub in the eastern Polish city of Rzeszow that has been used to ferry Western weapons into neighbouring Ukraine about 70 kilometres (45 miles) away.

The American military help is vital for Ukraine’s shorthanded and weary army, which is having a tough time keeping Russia’s bigger military force at bay.

For Russia, the American aid spells potentially more difficulty in achieving war aims, and it could make Washington’s peace efforts a tougher sell in Moscow.

The US government has also restored Ukraine’s access to unclassified commercial satellite pictures provided by Maxar Technologies through a program Washington runs, Maxar spokesperson Tomi Maxted told The Associated Press.

The images help Ukraine plan attacks, assess their success and monitor Russian movements.

Even if Putin agrees to a temporary truce, which is a big if, Ukraine and Europe are clear that Russia has a long history of breaking ceasefire agreements.

Finland will definitely be part of any “coalition of the willing” that could help support Ukraine’s security, Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen told Times Radio.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain, France and some other nations would form a coalition to draw up plans to offer Ukraine support in the event of a peace deal to end Russia’s war.

“We are definitely part of the coalition of the willing, and we are looking at the package of capabilities which we have to put to the table in order to help Ukraine in securing itself,” she said.

“We will, of course, have to secure the rest of Europe, too… there are many ways to participate and rest assured Finland will participate also.”

It came after Secretary of State for Defence John Healey said: “In the coming weeks, you will see European allies coming ever closer together because our security is shared and our strength relies on that unwavering commitment to each other.

“Peace and security in Europe will only be achieved through strengthening Nato and standing with Ukraine.”

About 286,000 Ukrainian civilians remain in Donetsk Oblast as mandatory evacuation in the region continues.

Dmytro Petlin, head of the department of operational and emergency service for the region, said: “Evacuation measures continue. As of yesterday (11.03.25), about 1,214,000 civilians were evacuated from the government-controlled areas of Donetsk region.

“As of yesterday, about 286,000 civilians remain in the territory of the region controlled by the Ukrainian authorities.”