Russia and Ukraine might be one step closer to a temporary ceasefire, but it all depends on whether Moscow agrees to a U.S.-backed plan for a 30-day pause in fighting. The idea is to give both sides a chance to negotiate a more lasting peace deal, but there are big hurdles to overcome.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy isn’t convinced that Russia will agree to a ceasefire without making demands that could drag out the war even longer. Meanwhile, Ukraine has been under growing pressure to accept the deal, especially after U.S. President Donald Trump cut off military aid and intelligence sharing. Now, Kyiv is hoping Trump will turn up the heat on Russia with more sanctions to push President Vladimir Putin into accepting the proposal.
Trump, who is expected to speak with Putin on Tuesday, has hinted that part of the discussion will involve splitting up land and power plants as part of a broader plan to end the war. But beyond this short-term ceasefire, neither Ukraine nor Russia seems willing to give up much, and both sides have made it clear that certain demands are non-negotiable.
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, Putin wanted Ukraine to abandon its NATO ambitions, shrink its military, and protect Russian language and culture—keeping the country under Moscow’s influence. Now, he’s also insisting that Ukraine pull its troops from four regions Russia illegally claimed in 2022—Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson—even though Russian forces don’t fully control those areas.
Russia has also made it clear that it expects frozen Russian assets in the West to be released as part of any peace deal, along with the removal of U.S. and European sanctions. In response, the Trump administration has suggested that lifting some sanctions could be part of the bargaining process.
For now, the world is watching to see if this 30-day ceasefire will happen—or if the war will continue with no end in sight.
