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Kremlin rejects 60-day Ukraine truce and insists on comprehensive peace agreement

The Kremlin rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's proposal for a 60-day ceasefire to allow presidential elections to be held, saying Moscow was seeking a long-term peace agreement rather than a temporary truce. The Ukrainian proposal came in response to US President Donald Trump's call for new leadership to be elected in Ukraine.

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The Kremlin on Monday, 12 October 2026, rejected a proposal by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a comprehensive 60-day ceasefire to allow his country to hold presidential elections, saying Moscow preferred reaching a long-term peace agreement rather than a temporary truce.

Kremlin rejects two-month truce

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials had repeatedly made clear that Moscow did not want merely a ceasefire, but was seeking lasting peace and was ready to do everything possible to achieve it. Zelenskyy had called on Putin to agree to a comprehensive two-month ceasefire, explaining that the period would allow Ukraine to hold elections.

Tell Putin to give us two months, 60 days of a full ceasefire, and we will hold elections

in an interview with the US broadcaster ABC's programme “This Week”

Zelenskyy responds to Trump's call

Zelenskyy's remarks came in response to criticism of Ukraine's leadership by US President Donald Trump, who said on Saturday that he believed it was time to elect a new president of Ukraine. Zelenskyy replied that choosing the country's president was a matter for Ukrainians, adding that Putin also wanted to change Ukraine's leadership.

Trump had criticised Zelenskyy over Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries, a day after the United States temporarily suspended sanctions on Russian fuel that were intended to limit the revenue Moscow uses to finance the war.

Zelenskyy said it was easy to blame Ukraine for rising fuel prices, while the world, as he put it, understood that the war in the Middle East had caused prices to rise. He also said Kyiv was ready to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries if Moscow stopped striking Ukrainian energy facilities. Russia has for some time been pressing Ukraine to hold presidential elections, saying that the failure to organise them makes Zelenskyy an illegitimate leader.

By contrast, Ukrainian law prohibits elections while war-related martial law is in force. Zelenskyy cited this in linking the holding of a vote to reaching a comprehensive 60-day ceasefire.