The remarks by the Russian leader suggested he wanted to draw out negotiations or make a truce impossible. Ukraine’s leader called the response to a cease-fire plan “manipulative.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin, dressed in military fatigues, ordered the swift defeat of Ukrainian forces in western Russia, a signal to the United States that Moscow holds the military initiative as they prepare to discuss a ceasefire on Thursday.

U.S. officials arrived in Moscow discuss the proposed 30-day pause in fighting between Ukraine and Russia, but Russia is wary of the deal.

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin, dressed in military fatigues, ordered top commanders to defeat Ukrainian forces in the western region of Kursk as soon as possible after the United States asked him to consider a 30-day ceasefire proposal.

Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, dressed in fatigues, visited a command post near the front in Kursk late Wednesday to cheer on his military’s ejection of Ukrainian forces from much of the territory they had been occupying in the Russian border region.

Speaking while dressed in fatigues, President Vladimir Putin says his main priority is to defeat Ukraine in the shortest time possible. It comes as a team from the United States heads to Moscow, expressing confidence that Russia will join a peace plan that is agreed to by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.