MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia said Thursday it would not accept a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine, rejecting proposals of a one-month halt in fighting or a stop in aerial and naval attacks — ideas floated by Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Talk of a possible truce is at fever pitch with United States (US) President Donald Trump pushing for a rapid end to the conflict and having halted the supply of arms and intelligence to Ukraine, hobbling its capacity to fight off the Russian offensive.

Ukrainian President Zelensky has called for an immediate halt to attacks in the sky and at sea as the first stage to a possible peace deal.

And Macron told France’s Le Figaro newspaper on Sunday that Paris and London were proposing a one-month truce to cover attacks “in the air, at sea and on energy infrastructure”.

But Moscow on Thursday appeared to rule out any temporary or piecemeal ceasefire.

“Firm agreements on a final settlement are needed. Without all that, some kind of respite is absolutely unacceptable,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters in a televised briefing.

“We are dealing with a blatant desire to secure a respite for the moribund Kyiv regime at any cost and to prevent a collapse of the front,” she said.

Ukraine would “use this pause, with the held of its allies, to strengthen its military potential”, Zakharova added.

Ahead of possible talks on a settlement to the conflict, unleashed by Moscow in February 2022, Russian officials have stuck to their hardline demands.

They have ruled out ceding Ukrainian territory captured over the last three years, have said a European peacekeeping force is a non-starter and repeated the desire to roll-back the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) presence across Europe.

Trump’s suspension of military aid to Ukraine has hardened fears in Kyiv and across Europe that Ukraine could be forced to accept a peace on terms favourable to Moscow.