Putin declares сeasefire to keep drones from flying over visiting leaders on May 9

Putin has unilaterally announced a ceasefire for May 9–10, which means:

1. There will be no agreement with the U.S. before that date.
2. Putin doesn’t want drones flying over the heads of foreign guests during the celebrations in Moscow.
3. The Kremlin's main plan is to pressure Ukraine into accepting its terms without making any concessions — and they’re sticking to it.

1. The goal is to make Ukraine appear to derail the "talks," so Moscow keeps inventing stories about “unconditional negotiations” that actually come with conditions.

1. After May 10, Trump will have to decide whether to keep engaging in this issue or shift focus to domestic matters. I’m leaning toward the latter.
2. What matters most for us is that the Americans allow us to buy weapons from them.

Source

About the author. Viktor Shlinchak, Chairman of the Board of the Institute of World Policy.

The editorial staff does not always share the opinions expressed by the blog authors.