Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed Vladimir Putin’s offer for direct peace talks with Kyiv, calling it “a positive sign.”
In a potential turning point in the conflict, the Russian leader opened the door to direct negotiations with Ukraine “without any preconditions,” suggesting a meeting in Istanbul next Thursday. His overture followed renewed pressure from Kyiv’s Western allies on Saturday.
“The entire world has been waiting for this for a very long time,” Zelenskyy wrote on X Sunday morning, referring to Putin’s announcement. “It is a positive sign that the Russians have finally begun to consider ending the war.”
U.S. President Donald Trump also hailed the developments as “a potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine,” arguing that it might lead to “hundreds of thousands of lives that will be saved.”
In a televised statement from the Kremlin early Sunday, Putin suggested holding negotiations with Ukraine for the first time since the early stages of the conflict, which the Russian leader started with an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“It was not Russia that broke off negotiations in 2022. It was Kyiv,” Putin said. “Russia is ready to negotiate without any preconditions.”
His remarks come after the leaders of Germany, France, Poland and the U.K. — with U.S. backing — tightened the screws on Russia. They backed an unconditional 30-day ceasefire starting on Monday after a joint visit to Kyiv on Saturday.
“We expect Russia to confirm a ceasefire — full, lasting, and reliable — starting tomorrow, May 12th, and Ukraine is ready to meet,” Zelensky wrote in his X post.
French President Emmanuel Macron echoed that message in his own post, saying that “there can be no dialogue if, at the same time, civilians are being bombed.”
But Putin did not commit to the ceasefire — nor did he walk back from the Kremlin’s red lines, which include Ukraine being neutral and Russia gaining full control over the Ukrainian regions that it claims.
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