Just hours after several world leaders, including President Donald Trump, called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine, Putin has proposed direct peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul later this week.
In a rare, late-night television address from the Kremlin on Saturday, Putin told Russians, “We seek serious talks… to remove the root causes of the conflict and start moving toward a lasting, strong peace,” adding that the talks should ”start without delay, as early as May 15.”
Earlier on Saturday, the leaders of five European countries—Ukraine, France, Germany, the U.K., and Poland—met in Kyiv. Together the group called Trump, and managed to get him to agree to stand with them in pressuring Russia to agree to a 30-day unconditional ceasefire or risk further sanctions and increased Western military support for Ukraine.
In response to the news, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia would “have to think this through” while warning the Western leaders that “trying to pressure us is quite useless.”
In his televised address, Putin said that he would not rule out that during the talks, “we’ll be able to agree [on] new ceasefires, a new truce.” He added that he would speak to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday to finalize details of the talks.
Putin also took the opportunity to criticize Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, arguing that it was not Russia who broke off negotiations in 2022 but Ukraine. “Nevertheless,” Putin said, “we are proposing that Kyiv resume direct negotiations without any preconditions.”
He continued, “Our proposal, as they say, is on the table, 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.”
Trump has historically been incredibly friendly with Russia, but in recent months, his administration’s rhetoric around Putin’s government has changed.
Earlier this week, Vice President J.D. Vance said that in wanting to claim territory not currently occupied by Russian forces as part of any potential peace deal, Putin was “asking for too much.”
Meanwhile, in response to Russia firing missiles at civilian-occupied locations in Ukraine last month, Trump said, “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently.”
While the decision to back Europe’s calls for a ceasefire or face the risk of severely increased sanctions is a new one, Trump has previously expressed a desire for the “bloodbath” in Ukraine to end, telling reporters in March after Ukraine agreed to the 30-day ceasefire, “Hopefully we can get a ceasefire from Russia. And if we do, I think that would be 80% of the way to getting this horrible bloodbath finished.”
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