Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed direct talks with Ukrainian officials to finally bring an end to the war that began with a 2022 invasion by Moscow.
Putin has thus far offered few, if any, concessions but is now proposing talks with Ukraine in the Turkish city of Istanbul that he says must be held without preconditions and with the goal of lasting peace.
“We are proposing that Kyiv resume direct negotiations without any preconditions,” Putin said in a televised statement on Sunday. “We offer the Kyiv authorities to resume negotiations already on Thursday, in Istanbul.”
The Kremlin chief said talks should address the root causes of the war and that he would speak to Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan later on Sunday about facilitating the negotiations, which he said could result in a ceasefire.
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“Our proposal, as they say, is on the table,” Putin said. “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.”
The proposal was a welcome sign to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said Kyiv was willing to negotiate but that Moscow must agree to a ceasefire.
“It is a positive sign that the Russians have finally begun to consider ending the war,” he wrote on X. “The entire world has been waiting for this for a very long time. And the very first step in truly ending any war is a ceasefire. There is no point in continuing the killing even for a single day. We expect Russia to confirm a ceasefire – full, lasting, and reliable – starting tomorrow, May 12th, and Ukraine is ready to meet.”
U.S. President Donald Trump said hundreds of thousands of lives will be saved if the “bloodbath” of the war could end.
“A potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Think of the hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved as this never ending ‘bloodbath’ hopefully comes to an end. It will be a whole new, and much better, WORLD. I will continue to work with both sides to make sure that it happens. The USA wants to focus, instead, on Rebuilding and Trade. A BIG week upcoming!”
Putin’s proposal for direct talks came hours after European leaders demanded on Saturday in Kyiv that the Russian president agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire or face new sanctions. But Putin dismissed attempts by some European powers to issue what he described as “ultimatums.”
The Russian leader said he does not rule out that Moscow and Kyiv will agree on “some new truces, a new ceasefire” during negotiations in Turkey, saying that the talks would be the first step towards a “sustainable” peace.
Russia 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 Two, Putin said.
Putin said that during the ceasefire in May, Ukraine attacked Russia with 524 aerial drones, 45 sea drones, and several Western missiles. But Ukraine accused Russia of violating the temporary truces, including the May 8-10 ceasefire.
Despite Putin’s offer of peace talks, Russia launched a drone attack on Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine on Sunday, injuring one person and damaging several private homes, Ukrainian officials said.
Putin has maintained his conditions for ending the war despite pressure from Trump and warnings from European leaders.
In June, he said Ukraine must officially drop its hopes of joining NATO and pull its troops from the entirety of the territory of four Ukrainian regions claimed by Russia. Moscow has also urged the U.S. to recognize Russia’s control over parts of Ukraine.
But Russian officials have said they are not against Kyiv’s ambitions to join the European Union.
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Putin mentioned the 2022 draft deal Russia and Ukraine negotiated shortly after the Russian invasion started.
Under that draft, Ukraine should agree to permanent neutrality in exchange for international security guarantees from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council: Britain, China, France, Russia and the U.S.
“It was not Russia that broke off negotiations in 2022. It was Kyiv,” Putin said. “Russia is ready to negotiate without any preconditions.”
Putin thanked China, Brazil, African and Middle Eastern countries and the U.S. for their efforts to mediate.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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