The remarks by the Russian leader suggested he wanted to draw out negotiations or make a truce impossible. Ukraine’s leader called the response to a cease-fire plan “manipulative.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he didn’t support an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine, calling for more discussion on a permanent end to the war as Moscow’s army made rapid gains toward expelling Kyiv’s forces from its Kursk region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, dressed in military fatigues, ordered the swift defeat of Ukrainian forces in western Russia, a signal to the United States that Moscow holds the military initiative as they prepare to discuss a ceasefire on Thursday.