Ukraine and Russia could hold their first direct talks for three years to end the war this week after Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that he would meet Vladimir Putin in Turkey on Thursday.
However, Ukraine’s president said he awaited a full ceasefire starting today to provide the necessary basis for diplomacy.
“We await a full and lasting ceasefire, starting from tomorrow, to provide the necessary basis for diplomacy. There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday. Personally. I hope that this time the Russians will not look for excuses,” he said on X.
The news comes after Donald Trump demanded that Kyiv “immediately” hold direct talks with Moscow.
The US president has appeared to reject, however, European leaders’ weekend demand for Vladimir Putin to agree to an immediate, unconditional ceasefire after the Russian president dismissed what he said was an attempt to lay down “ultimatums”.
Trump has been pressing both sides to agree to a truce of at least 30 days and stop the three-year-old war.
Trump said on Sunday in a post on his Truth Social social media site that Putin did not want to agree to a ceasefire but wanted to hold talks on Thursday “to negotiate a possible end to the BLOODBATH. Ukraine should agree to this, IMMEDIATELY.”
He added: “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!”
He said: “I’m starting to doubt that Ukraine will make a deal with Putin, who’s too busy celebrating the Victory of World War ll, which could not have been won (not even close!) without the United States of America. HAVE THE MEETING, NOW!!!”
The Kremlin said that Putin and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone on Sunday, where they discussed Putin’s proposal to hold Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul on Thursday, 15 May.
Turkey is ready to host peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul again that would lead to a permanent solution, President Tayyip Erdogan told Putin, Erdogan’s office said.
Erdogan also told Putin that a comprehensive ceasefire would create the necessary environment for peace talks, the readout said.
In a separate call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Erdogan said “a historic turning point” had been reached and that the opportunity should be seized, according to Erdogan’s office.
Before Trump’s post yesterday, Ukraine’s president said that his team was “ready to meet” Russian representatives after Putin suggested the two sides hold direct peace talks on Thursday in Turkey.
However, while Zelensky said it was “a positive sign that the Russians have finally begun to consider ending the war”, “the very first step in truly ending any war is a ceasefire”.
“We expect Russia to confirm a ceasefire – full, lasting, and reliable – starting tomorrow, May 12, and Ukraine is ready to meet,” he said.
Trump’s post will come as a blow to European leaders including Keir Starmer, Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who met Zelensky in Kyiv on Saturday to demand that Putin agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire starting today or face “massive” new sanctions.
Late on Saturday night, Putin made a televised statement from the Kremlin that coincided with prime time in the US. He suggested that any ceasefire was a matter for talks he proposed for Istanbul.
Macron said Putin’s proposal for talks showed that he was looking for a way forward, but also trying to buy time.
“It’s a first step but it’s not enough,” Macron told reporters on his way back from Ukraine early on Sunday. “An unconditional ceasefire is not preceded by negotiations.”
Turkey also hosted talks between Russia and Ukraine in March 2022.
The draft accords discussed then would have obliged Ukraine to give up its Nato ambitions and accept permanent neutral and nuclear-free status in return for security guarantees from the US, Russia, China, Britain and France – the five permanent UN Security Council members.
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