Kremlin rejects Zelensky's idea of a 60-day ceasefire, says it wants an overall peace deal

Jerusalem Post/World News/Russia-Ukraine WarKremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Russia wanted a long-term peace deal rather than a temporary ceasefire.Follow us on GoogleUkraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the media while he visits together with British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband the site of an apartment building where 22 residents were killed amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Chernihiv region, Ukraine, October 8, 2026. (photo credit: REUTERS/VALENTYN OGIRENKO)OCTOBER 12, 2026 17:34The Kremlin on Monday rejected a 60-day ceasefire idea proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to allow his country to hold presidential elections, saying it wanted an overall peace deal instead."Please tell Putin, give us two months, 60 days of total ceasefire, 60 days, and we will organize elections," Zelensky told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Russia wanted a long-term peace deal rather than a temporary ceasefire."In the Kremlin, both President Putin and officials at other levels have repeatedly stated that we do not want a ceasefire," said Peskov. "We want long-term peace and are prepared to do everything possible to achieve it."Russia has long pressed Ukraine to hold elections and claims that its failure to do so makes Zelensky an illegitimate leader. Elections in wartime are prohibited by Ukrainian law.Russian President Vladimir Putin votes online in the parliamentary election in Moscow, Russia, September 18, 2026. (credit: Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofiev/Pool via REUTERS)Kremlin says discussions about energy ceasefire are ongoingThe Kremlin also said that contacts were ongoing about a possible energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, which was announced by US President Donald Trump on Monday.Peskov declined to comment on whether the ceasefire would apply only to oil refineries and said further information would be revealed in due course.Trump announced the alleged ceasefire shortly after Zelensky's interview, in which the Ukrainian president said that Trump should discourage Russia from striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure if he wants retaliation against Russian energy assets to stop.Follow us on Google