Both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin have expressed reservations about a proposed ceasefire in Ukraine during the Olympic Games in Paris this summer. <\/p>\n
The proposal, first mentioned by French President Emmanuel Macron and later discussed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, aims to halt hostilities during the Games. <\/p>\n
Zelensky told the online news site Ukrainska Pravda on Friday that the details of the initiative were not clear to him. <\/p>\n
He highlighted the risks of Russia potentially using the ceasefire to move military equipment closer to Ukraine then. <\/p>\n
Zelensky raised the question of \"who will ensure that their forces do not advance towards us during a ceasefire? <\/p>\n
\"So I don't understand the details. It sounds like a non-viable story to me so far.\" <\/p>\n
Putin, returning from a state visit to China, acknowledged that Xi had brought up the ceasefire idea but did not elaborate further. <\/p>\n
However, he criticized the West for demanding that Russia adhere to an Olympic truce while excluding Russian athletes from the Games. <\/p>\n
Moscow had also previously expressed doubts about such an initiative, as Ukraine could use the period of the Games to further arm its armed forces and regroup for war. <\/p>\n
After Macron brought up the idea earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said there were no concrete proposals from Paris on how to proceed. <\/p>\n
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Zelensky and Putin react to Paris Olympics ceasefire proposal - Yahoo! Voices<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin have expressed reservations about a proposed ceasefire in Ukraine during the Olympic Games in Paris this summer. Continue reading