RTRS-Kremlin Denies Putin Ceasefire Offer

Reuters claiming that the Kremlin has refuted a 13 Feb report from the newswire claiming that according to its Russian sources President Vladimir Putin's suggestion of a ceasefire in Ukraine had been rejected by the US. Kremlin spox Dmitri Peskov, when asked about the report, stated that "No. It's not true".

• The original report claiming that Putin sent indirect hints to the White House - via intermediaries including Middle Eastern nations - that he would be willing to hold ceasefire talks garnered notable interest. The report came at the same time as a major political showdown looms in the US Congress over a massive Ukraine funding package.
• Separately, Putin has signed into law legislation that will see the confiscation of property of those "disseminating fake news about Russia’s armed forces as well as committing crimes detrimental to national security." Specifically, the law expands the articles of the Russian Criminal Code covering "the dissemination of fake news about the Russian army; discrediting the army; making calls for extremism; violations of Russia’s territorial integrity; activities aimed against national security; calls for imposing sanctions on Russia and Russian nationals; rehabilitating Nazism; and assisting in the implementation of decisions made by international organizations of which Russia is not a member, as well as by foreign government agencies."
• The move would appear to be a further crackdown on anti-war speech or sentiment ahead of the March presidential election. Anti-war candidate Boris Nadezhdin has already been barred from standing for the presidency.