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.”

The diplomatic effort coincided with a Russian claim that its troops have driven the Ukrainian army out of a key town in Russia's Kursk border region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he didn’t support an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine, calling for more discussion on a permanent end to the war as Moscow’s army made rapid gains toward expelling Kyiv’s forces from its Kursk region.