Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday agreed to hold “direct negotiations” with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15. His announcement came hours after European leaders meeting in Kyiv pushed for direct negotiations and called for an “unconditional” 30-day ceasefire to begin on Monday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15, saying the negotiations should be aimed at bringing a durable peace and eliminating the “root causes” of the war.
Putin sent thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, unleashing a war that has left hundreds of thousands of soldiers dead and triggering the gravest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
He said Russia was proposing direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul in an attempt to “eliminate the root causes of the conflict” and “to achieve the restoration of a long-term, lasting peace” rather than simply a pause that could be used for rearmament.
“We are proposing that Kyiv resume direct negotiations without any preconditions,” Putin said from the Kremlin in the early hours of Sunday. “We offer the Kyiv authorities to resume negotiations already on Thursday, in Istanbul.”
Despite public and private pressure from US President Donald Trump and repeated warnings from European powers, Putin has offered few concessions towards ending the conflict.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that Putin’s proposal is “a first step, but not enough”.
“An unconditional ceasefire is not preceded by negotiations,” Macron told reporters as he stepped off a train in the Polish city of Przemysl on his return from a trip to Ukraine, adding that Putin was “looking for a way out, but he still wants to buy time”.
On a visit to Kyiv on Saturday, Macron called for direct talks to follow a ceasefire.
Putin said that he would speak to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan later on Sunday about facilitating the talks, which he said could lead to a ceasefire.
“Our proposal, as they say, is on the table. The decision is now up to the Ukrainian authorities and their curators, who are guided, it seems, by their personal political ambitions, and not by the interests of their peoples.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office and Ukraine’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on the proposal.
No ceasefire?
Putin’s proposal for direct talks with Ukraine came hours after major European powers demanded on Saturday in Kyiv that Putin agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire or face “massive” new sanctions.
Putin dismissed what he said was the attempt by some European powers to lay down “ultimatums”.
Russia, Putin said, had proposed several ceasefires, including a moratorium on striking energy facilities, an Easter ceasefire and most recently the 72-hour truce during the celebrations marking 80 years since victory in World War II.
Both Russia and Ukraine accused each other of violating the temporary truces, including the May 8-10 ceasefire.
On Sunday, Russia launched a drone attack on Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
Putin said that he does not rule out that during his proposed talks in Turkey both sides will agree on “some new truces, a new ceasefire,” but one that would be the first step towards a “sustainable” peace.
Peace?
Putin, whose forces have advanced over the past year, has stood firm in his conditions for ending the war.
In June 2024, he said that Ukraine must officially drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw its troops from the entirety of the territory of four Ukrainian regions claimed by Russia.
Russian officials have also proposed that the US recognise Russia’s control over about one fifth of Ukraine and demanded that Ukraine remains neutral though Moscow has said it is not opposed to Kyiv’s ambitions to join the European Union.
