Zelenskyy offers to meet Putin ‘personally’ for talks in Turkey

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Photo / Getty Images

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered to meet Vladimir Putin in Turkey, urging a 30-day ceasefire.
• The Kremlin did not respond to the ceasefire proposal, but Putin suggested resuming talks without preconditions.
• Western leaders, including Emmanuel Macron, insist on an unconditional ceasefire before any negotiations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he would be willing to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Turkey “personally”, after Donald Trump said direct talks were needed to determine whether peace was possible.

The Kremlin did not immediately respond to Zelenskyy’s offer, and the Ukrainian leader did not say whether he would still attend if Russia refused a 30-day ceasefire proposed by Kyiv and its allies over the weekend.

Moscow and Kyiv have not held face-to-face negotiations since March 2022, shortly after the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of that year.

“We await a full and lasting ceasefire, starting from tomorrow, to provide the necessary basis for diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X.

“There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will be waiting for Putin in Turkiye on Thursday. Personally. I hope that this time the Russians will not look for excuses,” he added.

In the early hours of Sunday, Putin proposed to resume the talks between the two sides held in Istanbul in March 2022. But he did not respond to the 30-day ceasefire proposal put forward by Kyiv’s allies.

US President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform earlier: “President Putin of Russia doesn’t want to have a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, but rather wants to meet on Thursday, in Turkey, to negotiate a possible end to the BLOODBATH.”

“Ukraine should agree to this, IMMEDIATELY. At least they will be able to determine whether or not a deal is possible, and if it is not, European leaders, and the US, will know where everything stands, and can proceed accordingly!”

Allies urge truce

Kyiv and its Western allies have said an unconditional ceasefire to pause the fighting is the only way to advance a diplomatic solution in the three-year war – Europe’s worst since World War II.

Russia’s assault has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people, the destruction of Ukrainian cities and a collapse in relations between Moscow and the West.

On a visit to Kyiv on Saturday the leaders of France, the UK, Germany and Poland pressured Russia – with Trump’s support – to commit to an unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine starting from Monday.

Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak suggested Zelenskyy would only come to the table if Moscow agreed to the ceasefire from Monday.

French President Emmanuel Macron appeared to echo this, insisting on the “necessity” of a ceasefire before talks, the Elysee said in a statement on Sunday evening.

In their last meeting in Istanbul in March 2022, Russia and Ukraine produced a now-aborted peace proposal that would have forced Kyiv to adopt neutral status and renounce any Nato ambitions.

Since then, communication channels have only been open for exchanges of prisoners of war and bodies.

Putin denounces ‘ultimatums’

Putin’s proposal early on Sunday, ignoring the 30-day ceasefire proposal, focussed on a return to those Istanbul talks.

“We propose to the Kyiv authorities to resume the talks that they broke off in 2022, and, I emphasise, without any preconditions,” he said.

“We propose to start [negotiations] without delay on Thursday, May 15 in Istanbul,” Putin said.

“We do not exclude that during these talks we will be able to agree on some new ceasefire,” the Russian leader added.

But he also accused Ukraine’s Western backers of wanting to “continue war with Russia”.

And without mentioning the specific proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, he slammed European “ultimatums” and “anti-Russian rhetoric”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Putin in a phone call on Sunday that Ankara was ready to host talks “aimed at achieving a lasting solution”.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Russia’s offer to negotiate directly was a “good sign” but “far from sufficient”, pressuring Moscow to agree to a truce.

-Agence France-Presse