Kremlin Rejects Energy Ceasefire But Says Full Peace Deal Requires Ukraine’s Participation

October 22 ------ Russian President Vladimir Putin is not considering an energy ceasefire with Ukraine, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, claiming Moscow wants a broader peace agreement instead. “Russia needs peace, not a ceasefire,” Peskov said, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

Peskov’s comments came as a rebuke to US President Donald Trump’s recent announcement of an energy truce between Kyiv and Moscow. Peskov added that a full resolution of the war was impossible without Ukrainian officials’ participation. “Someone there needs to make a responsible decision,” he said without specifying whom he meant.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has reportedly proposed a trilateral summit with his US and Chinese counterparts in November to discuss a settlement in Ukraine without Kyiv’s participation. Both the US and Russia also cast doubt on President Volodymyr Zelensky’s legitimacy despite most Ukrainians expressing trust in the leader in recent polls.

Peskov also commented on recent remarks by Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who said Ukrainian, US and European delegations identified new ideas for ending the war during Tuesday’s talks in Norway, ahead of Trump envoy Steve Witkoff’s visit to St. Petersburg. Stubb said the proposals would be conveyed to the Kremlin for consideration.

“In my experience, peace requires patience, but unfortunately, war does not wait. People die every day. Our task is to do everything possible to put an end to this. And I believe that today was a step in the right direction,” Stubb said. But Peskov dismissed the remarks once again, saying that simply repeating the general European position on Ukraine was “unlikely to be a constructive contribution to a settlement.”

Peace on whose terms?

While all parties – including the US and Europe – have called for peace in Ukraine, the terms have been polarizing. Europe has sided with Kyiv, arguing that Russia is responsible for the invasion and that any peace should be just and lasting, rather than a temporary ceasefire – similar to Moscow’s wording, except that Europe says this is necessary to prevent another Russian invasion.

Russia has long cast its own Ukraine invasion as a war against NATO, initially demanding that Ukraine be demilitarized and barred from joining the alliance, and recently reiterated demands for Kyiv to voluntarily withdraw from eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, to which Moscow has laid claims via unrecognized referendums. Kyiv, meanwhile, called for a freeze along the contact lines, arguing that ceding the Donbas region could weaken its own security and allow Russia to recuperate for another invasion against the rest of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s recent Operation Vivaldi also reversed much of Russia’s gains in the region throughout 2026. While the previous US administration backed Ukraine’s sovereignty, the Trump administration has pursued economic incentives to bring Moscow to the negotiating table, with Zelensky saying in March that Washington had pressured Kyiv to give up the Donbas in exchange for security guarantees.

Source: kyivpost.com