ISTANBUL 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is "preparing to reject" a ceasefire proposed by the US during talks with Kyiv earlier this week in Saudi Arabia.

US and Ukrainian delegations met Tuesday in the Saudi city of Jeddah to discuss prospects for a possible peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, after which a joint statement declared Kyiv’s readiness to accept a 30-day ceasefire proposed by Washington.

Putin said Thursday that his country agrees with the proposals to end hostilities but added that Moscow will accept them only if it would “lead to long-term peace and eliminate the initial causes of this crisis.”

“Right now, we have all heard from Russia Putin’s highly predictable and manipulative words in response to the idea of a ceasefire on the front lines. At this moment he is, in fact, preparing to reject it,” Zelenskyy said during an evening video address.

Accusing Putin of “yet another round of Russian manipulation,” Zelenskyy claimed his counterpart is “afraid” to tell US President Donald Trump that he wants to continue the conflict.

“Putin does this often. He doesn’t say ‘no’ outright, but he drags things out and makes reasonable solutions impossible,” he said.

Zelenskyy expressed Ukraine’s readiness to work as quickly and as constructively as possible regarding the ceasefire proposal, calling for further pressure on Moscow to “force Russia to end this war.”

“We are not setting conditions that complicate the process. Russia is. As we have always said, the only one stalling, the only one being unconstructive is Russia,” he added.