President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted on Thursday that his administration believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin is gearing up to reject a ceasefire proposal that has been closely managed by United States (US) President Donald Trump in recent weeks.

According to President Zelenskyy, Russia's Putin is "scared" to state his ceasefire rejection directly to President Trump and is instead exploring delay tactics to find a structural reason to back away from the deal after spending weeks pushing for it.

The timing of the comments bodes poorly for Trump's administration, which is desperate to broker a deal in the Ukraine-Russia conflict so that President Trump can add it to his list of self-perceived accolades. An envoy of US delegates is meeting with Russian officials in Moscow on Thursday, attempting to smooth over Russia's flexible and frequently-changing demands for a Ukraine ceasefire deal.