by Olivier Acuña Barba •Published: May 11, 2025•11:04•2 minutes read
Following pressure from British and EU leaders, Russian President Vladimir Putin today, Sunday proposed direct peace negotiations with Ukraine in Ukraine and Istanbul on May 15th.
Putin announced an invitation to talks to end the three-year war in a rare, aired late-night speech from the Kremlin. The Russian leader assured that his government wanted “serious negotiations” aimed at moving towards lasting and strong peace.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later warned that Moscow “have to think about this through this,” and that “it’s very useless to try and put pressure on us,” the BBC It has been reported.
President Putin sent thousands of troops to Ukraine in February 2022, launching a war in which hundreds of thousands of soldiers were killed in a deadly armed conflict between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
There is no mention of the truce
Without the words about a 30-day ceasefire, Putin would not “exclude” the possibility that the talks could bring about a “new ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine.
“We propose that Kyiv resumes direct negotiations without prerequisites,” Putin said in a statement aired from the Kremlin, which began at 1:30am on Sunday (2230 GMT on Saturday). “We are offering Kiev authorities to resume negotiations on Thursday in Istanbul.”
Zelensky, a statement On social media website X, he said Putin’s invitation was “a positive sign that Russians are finally beginning to consider ending the war,” but said, “the first step to truly ending the war is a ceasefire.”
There’s no point in death anymore
“It’s pointless to continue killing even in one day. Russia expects to confirm a complete, lasting and reliable ceasefire after Ukraine is ready to meet tomorrow, May 12th,” he added.
On Saturday, the British, French, German and Poland chiefs arrived in Kiev to meet Zelensky. Their visit was seen as a symbolic response to more than 20 leaders who joined Putin in Moscow to commemorate Russia’s victory day on Friday.
After meeting with Zelensky, they held a press conference urging Russia to agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine from Monday, warning that “new and large” sanctions would be issued if Moscow refused.
