President Vladimir Putin's top foreign policy aide said on Thursday a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States to pause the war in Ukraine would give Russia "nothing" while gifting Kyiv's forces a much-needed battlefield respite.

The Russian Defense Ministry’s claim that it recaptured the town of Sudzha, hours after President Vladimir Putin visited his commanders in the region, could not be independently verified.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy particularly stressed that “for more than a day already, the world has yet to hear a meaningful response from Russia to the proposals made.”