Vladimir Putin proposed Sunday direct peace talks to finish the battle in Ukraine, a transfer rapidly endorsed by U.S. President Donald Trump however met with warning by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy responded guardedly on Sunday to the proposal, saying Kyiv was prepared to speak however solely after Moscow agreed to a cease-fire.
Putin made his proposal in a 1:30 a.m. (10:30 p.m. GMT Saturday) televised assertion from the Kremlin that coincided with prime time within the U.S., the place President Donald Trump has been urgent either side to conform to a truce of a minimum of 30 days and cease the three-year-old battle.
Trump, who says he needs to be remembered as a peacemaker and has repeatedly promised to finish the battle, known as it “A potentially great day for Russia and Ukraine!”
However, Putin prompt that any cease-fire was a matter for the talks he proposed for Istanbul subsequent Thursday, May 15.
Minutes later, senior Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov informed reporters the talks should take into consideration each an deserted 2022 draft peace deal and the present state of affairs on the bottom – shorthand for Kyiv agreeing to everlasting neutrality in return for a safety assure and accepting that Russia controls swathes of Ukraine.
Putin despatched Russia’s armed forces into Ukraine in February 2022, unleashing a battle that has killed a whole bunch of hundreds of troopers and triggered the gravest confrontation between Russia and the West for the reason that 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
With Russian forces grinding ahead, the Kremlin chief has provided few, if any, concessions thus far.
He proposed what he stated could be “direct negotiations without any preconditions”, not mentioning the phrases later set out by Ushakov.
Putin stated he didn’t rule out either side agreeing in Türkiye on “some new truces, a new cease-fire” – however one that may be step one in the direction of a “sustainable” peace.
Zelenskyy stated it was “a positive sign that the Russians have finally begun to consider ending the war,” however that “the very first step in truly ending any war is a cease-fire.”
“We expect Russia to confirm a cease-fire – full, lasting, and reliable – starting tomorrow, May 12, and Ukraine is ready to meet,” he stated.
For his half, Trump added, in his publish 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.”
‘Trying to purchase time’
Putin’s proposal got here hours after main European powers demanded on Saturday in Kyiv that Putin conform to an unconditional 30-day cease-fire or face “massive” new sanctions.
Putin dismissed what he stated was an try to put down “ultimatums” and his Foreign Ministry spelled out that talks in regards to the root causes of the battle should precede discussions of a cease-fire.
French President Emmanuel Macron stated Putin’s proposal for talks confirmed that he was searching for a manner ahead, but in addition attempting to purchase time.
“It’s a first step, but it’s not enough,” Macron informed reporters on his manner again from Ukraine early Sunday. “An unconditional cease-fire is not preceded by negotiations.”
Putin stated Russia had proposed a number of cease-fires, together with a moratorium on placing power amenities, an Easter truce and most just lately a 72-hour truce throughout celebrations marking 80 years since Soviet victory in World War II.
None of those have been agreed between the 2 sides and every accused the opposite of constant to assault in drive through the supposed truce durations.
“Our proposal, as they say, is on the table,” Putin stated. “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 Kremlin stated Erdoğan had informed Putin in a name that he “fully supported” Putin’s proposal and was able to host the talks in Istanbul.
Meanwhile, Russia launched a drone assault on Kyiv and different elements of Ukraine, injuring one particular person within the area surrounding the Ukrainian capital and damaging non-public houses, Ukrainian officers stated.
Putin, whose forces management one-fifth of Ukraine and are advancing, has stood agency in his circumstances for ending the battle regardless of private and non-private strain from Trump and repeated warnings from European powers.
Trump has publicly proven irritation with either side. But extra just lately, since signing a deal to share the proceeds of Ukrainian mineral mining, he has appeared extra annoyed with Moscow.
His Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, issued a socal media publish suggesting this remained the case: “As President Trump has repeatedly said, stop the killing!! An unconditional 30 day cease-fire first and, during it, move into comprehensive peace discussions. Not the other way around.”
In June 2024, Putin stated Ukraine should formally drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw its troops from everything of the territory of 4 Ukrainian areas claimed by Moscow. Russia considers Crimea, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014, now irrevocably a part of its personal territory.
On Sunday, Putin talked about the 2022 draft deal later cited by Ushakov.
Under that draft, a duplicate of which Reuters has reviewed, Ukraine would have agreed to everlasting neutrality in return for worldwide safety ensures from the 5 everlasting members of the U.N. Security Council: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
“It was not Russia that broke off negotiations in 2022. It was Kyiv,” Putin stated.
Former U.S. president Joe Biden, Western European leaders and Ukraine have solid the invasion as an imperial-style land seize and repeatedly vowed to defeat Russian forces.
Putin presents the battle as a watershed second in Moscow’s relations with the West, which he says humiliated Russia after the Soviet Union fell in 1991 by enlarging NATO and encroaching on what he considers Moscow’s sphere of affect, together with Ukraine.
Source: www.dailysabah.com