Vladimir Putin said he is ready to halt the war in Ukraine with a negotiated ceasefire that recognises the current battlefield lines.
However, the Russian president said he is ready to fight on if Kyiv and the West do not respond, four Russian sources told Reuters.
Three sources in Putin’s entourage said he expressed frustration to a small group of advisers about what he views as Western-backed attempts to impede negotiations and Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to rule out talks.
“Putin can fight for as long as it takes, but Putin is also ready for a ceasefire to freeze the war,” said a senior Russian source who has worked with Putin and has knowledge of top level conversations in the Kremlin.
It comes as Zelensky said on Friday that Ukrainian forces had secured “combat control” of areas where Russian troops staged an incursion this month in northern parts of Kharkiv region.
However, Viktor Vodolatskiy, a member of Russia’s State Duma lower house of parliament, said Russian forces controlled more than half the territory of Kharkiv’s town of Vovchansk.